Honest Deception
by eskede
Summary: Being dragged back into the fold of the empire won't deter him, nor will the lies, backstabbing, politics or assassinations. Perhaps it is for the best- the blood of the people that killed peace will resurrect it, not that of innocents.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I have made this chapter quite brief because all of this is there in the anime and all reading this must have seen it (I am assuming) I didn't want to it to be unnecessarily long including details everyone knows. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight exactly what went differently in this that led to the event that began this story. The story starts with the next chapter.

PROLOGUE

"I won't shoot a civilian, sir. I can't follow your orders." declared Suzaku.

"Very well" came a low menacing reply. Without warning a gunshot was fired.

"SUZAKU!" Lelouch yelled, seeing his best friend fall. He was in shock to see Suzaku die in a heartbeat.

The escape from there was a blur. But Lelouch ended up at gunpoint, an inch from death. Yet, for some inexplicable reason the girl from the capsule took the bullet for him. The man in front of him said something he never registered. He was still processing what had just happened, when the 'dead' girl in front of him grabbed his wrist and he was pulled into what seemed like a different realm.

"You don't want it end here, do you?"

"what?"

"you appear to have a reason for living."

"The girl? That's impossible!" how could a dead person be talking to him?

"If I grant you the power, could you go on? I propose a deal. In exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract and you accept its conditions. While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence, a different time, a different life.

The power of the kings will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?"

"Yes. I hereby accept the terms of your contract."

Confident, he rose, geassing the soldiers to kill themselves. On witnessing this, the potency of the geass hit him.

He turned to the girl wondering why would she give him such a bizarre power, when a knightmare came. Geassing the pilot, he obtained the knightmare and proceeded to escape.

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Cecile looked at the young soldier with concern; private Kururugi, she learnt. He had been shot and had lost a significant amount of blood. The doctors hurriedly worked on him trying to save him.

She sighed looking at the pocket watch they had recovered from his pocket. Apparently, had the watch been on the side that had been shot, the damage would have been decidedly less.

"Murphy's law" she muttered. "Poor boy".

She had volunteered to take care of him and hoped he would get better soon.

After a while the doctors had decided that his condition was stable enough and moved him to the critical care. They informed her that it would take him a few days to regain consciousness.

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Lelouch looked at the display smugly. He had established contact with the rebels and had been giving them directions.

'A few more moves and it'll be checkmate' he thought twirling the black king. This had been easier than he thought.

"That's right. I can defeat Britannia!"

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Kallen saw their coordinator's plan unfold beautifully. She had acted as a decoy and as the enemy units concentrated in that area, the ground had been swept off their feet, quite literally.

'This guy is a freaking genius' she thought as she fired her slash harkens to take out an enemy unit. This was the last wave of reinforcements according to the radio guy. How he knew was a complete mystery. Taking out the last of them, as she was supposed to, she retreated as per the plan.

Reaching the rendezvous location, she exited the Glasgow and made way inside the warehouse.

The others had already assembled there and were trying to pacify the scared Japanese, many of who were crying over the loss of their loved ones. It made her blood boil.

"Damn Britannians " she seethed.

The warehouse suddenly broke revealing a battalion of the Brit soldiers, their weapons drawn out.

"So, this is where you rats were hiding" the one in charge mocked. "Too bad the exterminators are here"

But before they could fire a booming voice came-

"I CLOVIS, THE THIRD PRINCE OF BRITANNNIA COMMAND MY FORCES TO RETREAT IMMEDIATELY. ALL CIVILIANS - BRITANNIANS OR ELEVENS- SHOULD BE GIVEN MEDICAL HELP."

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"Lelouch vi Britannia, the eleventh prince of the holy Britannia, at your service."

Clovis gasped. How was this even possible?

"Lelouch!" came his shaky voice "It's good to see you. I'll contact home. We must head to homeland right away."

"So, you can use me as a political tool once again." Lelouch said, advancing with a gun pointed at Clovis. "Have you forgotten why it happened in the first place?"

Clovis visibly blanched at this. He had a feeling that Lelouch won't hesitate to pull the trigger if provoked.

"Yes, it is because my mother was killed. It was made to look like the work of terrorists but I know you people killed her."

"Lelouch, I swear it wasn't me." Clovis pleaded desperately trying to pacify Lelouch. But he only saw a red bird like symbol in his left eye.

"I believe you. But you can't change the world without getting your hands dirty" was the last thing Clovis remembered hearing following a loud gunshot and everything went blank.

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Lelouch entered the classroom the following morning and noticed a few girls surrounding a red-haired girl who he immediately identified as the woman piloting the red Glasgow, but decided to question her using geass just to be sure. He followed her out during lunch time and once she was alone, geassed her and confirmed his suspicions. Unfortunately, she suspected him because of his miscalculation and he had to record a conversation and geass Sayuko to play in on the phone to erase her suspicions.

Now that he was sure of having a secure connection to one of the resistance cells, he decided to take a few days to properly plan out his next moves and look for allies.

Clovis' death had just been announced along with the start of investigations. There were no suspects announced yet. He wondered who they would frame for the murder.

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Jeremiah was slumped on his chair in his office. He had failed yet again to protect a royal. First Lady Marianne, then prince Lelouch and princess Nunnally and now prince Clovis. He could never forgive himself for these shortcomings. The worst part was that the investigation team had absolutely no leads. Of course, framing someone was the best option. And that eleven Kururugi would have made the perfect scapegoat, what with being the son of former Eleven prime minister. But the insolent fool was in critical care and had still not gained consciousness.

In his musings, he hadn't noticed Viletta enter his office.

"Jeremiah" came her voice breaking his reverie. "What is to be done now? The investigation doesn't lead anywhere and princess Cornelia will be arriving in a few days."

Jeremiah sighed. "Kururugi was the perfect scapegoat. Being the son of the Prime Minister, he would have more personal reasons to carry out regicide. It was quite believable. But using just any Eleven would create suspicions."

"How about a charged criminal who had managed to escape punishment? There are a few such Elevens. We could always show their past record if questioned."

"Perhaps".

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It had been two days since Lelouch had killed Clovis. There had been a public announcement that Clovis' murderer had been captured and would be executed the very next day.

'A Japanese ' Lelouch thought staring at his computer screen. ' How typical of them'

a thought of saving this man hit him, but he quickly discarded it. He was in no position to carry out an operation like this. He could ask Kallen's group but he didn't believe many of them would support him despite the Shinjiku incident. And they weren't wrong. Jumping into this was nothing short of suicide. No, he wouldn't do something this rash. Let the Britannians enjoy this 'victory' and when they least expected it he would attack.

Lelouch returned home, late and tired. He had discovered a few more resistance cells and had gained a few allies, most notably the Yamato alliance. He had moved them with his words and let them know that he had been the one to kill Clovis, not the now executed Japanese, and that it was he who arranged for the ceasefire.

Instead of complete darkness, he was greeted by a warm light. On entering the room, he got the biggest shock of his life. Nunnally was there folding origami cranes with that 'dead' girl.

'How?' was the only thought that formed in his mind.

As his sister continued to prattle, his mind raced with the various possibilities of how she survived and had found him. Quickly wrapping up the conversation, he led girl to his room and confirmed that she was indeed the one who had given the geass. He tried to ask her a few questions which never got answered. In the end, he decided to drop the matter; if she was indeed staying here, he would have plenty of opportunities to ask her. She won't resist for too long, of that he was sure. His skills in smooth-talking were well honed as was his convincing ability. If nothing worked, well, he still had the geass.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: thank you for bearing with chapter one. The story finally begins here. To give you an idea of what you are reading, I'll discuss the general theme. It focuses more on court politics than frontline battle. Not that there won't be any battles happening, but I won't be describing the details.

Also, this is first story on fanfiction. Please do review and don't hesitate to suggest any improvements- I'm looking forward to constructive criticism. Also, let me know if you find the writing too descriptive or narrative, or meandering or too much of anything else; I'll do my best to improve.

Lastly, have fun reading.

The Beginning Of The End

March 16, 2017 a.t.b.

Area 11 (Japan), Tokyo settlement.

It had been a week since Clovis' death. The new viceroy and sub viceroy would be arriving soon, though it hadn't been announced who would be taking up the respective roles. Lelouch was on his laptop digging for information when it was suddenly snatched away from. His head jerked up only to see an indignant Milly glaring at him as she shut the laptop handing it over to Rivalz who was standing beside her.

" The festival will start in less than an hour and you, Vice Prez, should be coordinating everything instead of lazing around with your precious electronics." she chided.

He opened his mouth to explain how Shirley and Kallen were currently handling everything before she cut him off with wave of her hand.

"GUTS" she bellowed with a grin causing him to cringe. "Let's get back to work. Need I remind you that this is an extra special festival that is open to visitors?"

Somehow prince Clovis' death hadn't stopped Milly from going ahead with the festival. True, the official mourning had ended just yesterday. Still, Lelouch never understood how it had been approved but he supposed that with Milly nothing was impossible.

"And as a punishment for ignoring your duties I'll be confiscating your phone so it doesn't become a replacement for your laptop." she said holding out her hand with Rivalz snickering behind her. Not wanting to get into an argument with her, he grudgingly handed over his phone.

"Good" she said ushering him towards the control room.

He sighed on reaching his destination and turned his attention to a few club members who were apparently unhappy with their stalls.

' It's going to be a long day'.

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Cecile knocked at the door of Suzaku's room. He had recovered two days ago and Lloyd had immediately asked him to run the Lancelot's simulator. The boy came out with an efficiency score of 94%. To say that Lloyd was overjoyed was an understatement; he had tried to throw a pudding party until Cecile had talked him out of it.

The door opened revealing the brunette smiling at her. "Hello miss Cecile! How can I help you?"

"Do you have any plans for the day?" she asked.

"No. I don't have any. Do I have training with Lancelot today?"

She shook her head. "I have the morning free. So, I was thinking about taking you out for a while. You have only just recovered and some fresh air will do you good."

He considered this for a moment. "Well, I suppose I could come. I'll be out in a minute." he said and Cecile headed to the main entrance to wait for him.

Euphemia absolutely had to escape. Her adviser had been talking for hours and her assistant kept adding more and more appointments to the already unending list.

'If this goes on, I'll definitely lose my mind' she thought grimly and started brainstorming different escape plans.

Deciding on her escape route, she feigned exhaustion waiting for them to notice, which they soon did, thankfully.

"Your Highness, are you all right?" the assistant asked.

"Oh! Its nothing really. I was only feeling a little tired."

"Then you must have some rest. Forgive us for the inconvenience we have caused you". When she saw Euphemia trying to protest, she quickly added "No princess, this can wait till tomorrow. You must rest."

Quickly muttering her thanks, she scurried off to her room. She changed into some simple clothes that would allow her to pass for a commoner; that she was yet to make a debut and unknown to the public helped immensely. Opening the window, she jumped out shouting "Move aside".

She expected the hard pavement but instead was caught by someone. The said someone set her down and asked if she was all right and who she was.

"I'm fine, really. And my name is Euphy."

"I'm Suzaku Kururugi and this is my colleague Miss Cecile Croomy." he said gesturing towards the blue haired woman who looked concerned. "Why did you jump off the window? Is something wrong?" he continued.

"Why, yes" Euphy said "Some bad guys are chasing me". Grabbing his arm Euphy started running dragging him along with Cecile at their heels.

Only when they were a good distance away from the Government building did she stop.

"There isn't anyone chasing you, is there?" Suzaku asked.

Euphy only smiled sheepishly and said "Well, I'm here on a vacation and I'd like to do something fun here."

It was when Cecile stepped in. "I was taking Suzaku out so he could enjoy a bright day. You are welcome to accompany us if you like".

Euphy nodded excitedly and thanked her.

"But where are we going Miss Cecile? You never said." enquired Suzaku.

"I heard there was an event in a rather famous school here. Ashford academy it's called. Its open to visitors today"

On hearing 'Ashford Euphy's face lit up. She remembered the blonde girl, Milly Ashford, she had met her a few times when her family visited Lady Marianne. She was saddened a little when the same train of thought led her to Lelouch and Nunnally, though.

' Well, if its the same Ashfords, perhaps I might see Milly again.' she thought as they resumed walking.

Suzaku, Cecile and Euphy had been wandering about the school grounds for an hour until they came across the Fashion club's designs display which resulted in the two women happily skipping towards it and a now lonely Suzaku aimlessly drifting across the sea of heads.

Euphy and Cecile laughed and chatted cheerfully while looking wondrously at the display all the while. They turned around to make way to a chocolate fountain Cecile had spotted when Euphy accidentally ran into a wheelchair with a black-haired woman wheeling it.

"I'm sorry" Euphy apologized as black-haired woman stepped forward protectively.

It was only then that Euphy saw the person in the wheelchair. Her breath hitched on seeing the face of the young girl with flowing brown hair. Euphy's eyes widened in realization and her legs weakened with her face blanching several shades because of the impossibility of the situation as she stammered,

"N..Nun...Nunnally?".

A/N: Very cliched title, yes. But I find it fitting.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks too all my readers and reviewers for giving me their precious time.

Secrets Unmasked

"N...Nun...Nunnally?"

Nunnally turned towards the source of the voice "Yes, who is it?".

There was no answer but she heard footsteps nearing and suddenly two soft hands slipped into hers which, she noted, were shaking. Even the pulse of the person was elevated and her - by the feel of the hand and the pitch of the voice Nunnally had figured it was a young lady- breaths were short and quick. She wondered what had caused such a reaction when the lady spoke again-

"Nunnally, I missed you. How are you?". The voice was still shaky, she noted, but she was washed over by a feeling of familiarity. Curious, Nunnally reached out and traced the contours of face when it dawned on her.

"S.. si..sister Euphy?" she stammered and immediately she was pulled into a tight hug by her sister with tears streaming down both their faces.

Sayoko had been watching the scene unfold with rapt attention. The words 'sister Euphy' made her suck in a sharp breath. Of course, she had known all about the Lamprouge siblings' true identity and history right from the beginning. The real reason she had been assigned as their caretaker was her skills as a Ninja so she could protect them if need arose. The principal Reuben Ashford had familiarized her with the prominent members of the imperial family and those closest to Lelouch and Nunnally when two had been living in Pendragon. Hence, she could quickly deduce that 'sister Euphy' was Euphemia li Britannia.

In an instant Sayoko tried to come up with the best course of action. There were escape routes that had been set up for the siblings. But they all had entrances near the main school building except one which opened inside the clubhouse where the siblings resided. But running away in this situation would only draw more attention and princess Euphemia would surely alert the other royals and have the siblings found. To make things worse, already there were a few people looking at the crying sisters. Quickly deciding, she called Lelouch so he could persuade princess Euphemia to keep the secret, but to her dismay his cell was switched off. So, she did the next best thing- taking the sisters out of public eye before a slip up happened. It was fortunate that the one to uncover the secret was princess Euphemia. She was yet to make her debut and was therefore unknown to the public but she had no idea if the blue haired woman who was with the princess had deduced who Nunnally was. Sayoko wouldn't take any chances.

"Nunnally, shouldn't we go inside so you can talk comfortably over a cup of tea?" she suggested and thankfully Nunnally quickly agreed. Soon enough they were safely inside the Lamprouge residence. Rushing into the kitchen, she called Milly so she could send over Lelouch, but the call wasn't answered. Panicking, she dialed Reuben Ashford praying he would answer when Reuben's voice spoke up. Relieved, she hurriedly explained the entire situation to him, eliciting a gasp form the noble.

"Sayuko, Euphemia is probably overjoyed right now and the first thing she is likely to do is to call princess Cornelia. If she hears about this, there will be lot of trouble, especially with the two still here. No matter what, stop that call. I'm on my way there." with that he hung up.

Sayuko practically ran to the dining room where they were sitting, just in time to see the dreaded call connect.

"Big sister Nelly?" came Nunnally's voice just as Sayuko entered the room.

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Suzaku had been wandering around for nearly an hour now and wondered if he should start looking for Euphy and Cecile, but decided against it. He was enjoying the pink cotton candy (yes, cotton candy) he had bought earlier, when he spotted a group of Ashford students- they wore uniforms- discussing something. He got a glimpse of the person standing in the middle and heaved a sigh of relief ' thank god! He survived it'.

Suzaku waited till the group dissipated, snuck up to the black-haired boy from behind and smacked him on the shoulder soundly causing him to jerk forward. Scowling, the victim turned around rubbing his now sore shoulder but on seeing a grinning Suzaku, the scowl was promptly replaced by a look of surprise.

"Suzaku?"

The addressee only grinned wider.

"I thought you died." he stated.

"disappointed?".

Lelouch just rolled his eyes. He noticed the bright pink cotton candy Suzaku was holding and snickered gesturing towards the said object.

"What?" Suzaku defended "You liked it too. I distinctly remember you sulking when you weren't allowed to have any as a punishment for skipping training with Todoh-san."

Lelouch sighed. "I guess I want one too." he admitted in a small voice. "But if Milly ever spots me with a cotton candy, I'll never hear the end of it. She's the student council president, by the way."

This made Suzaku burst into a fit of laughter and was soon joined by Lelouch.

"So, you go to school here." Suzaku assessed catching his breath while Lelouch wiped tears from his eyes. "And under a fake identity, I suppose."

"Uh-huh. I go by Lelouch Lamprouge. Nunnally goes here as well."

"Really?". Suzaku' s face lit up on hearing her name. "Can I see her?"

"Of course" Lelouch replied. "Come this way. She'll Probably be at home."

"We live in the clubhouse of the academy. With Nunnally's condition, dormitories were difficult and if we lived with other students they might come across some of our stuff that could compromise our identity" he explained before Suzaku could ask.

They leisurely walked towards their destination all the while catching up after all these years. Lelouch heard some voices talking when they entered the clubhouse and wondered who had come over.

"I'm home" he called and made way to the dining room where the voices seemed to originate with Suzaku trailing behind.

The door opened and Lelouch was greeted with a blur of pink and a rib-crushing hug that knocked the breath out of him.

"A..Air!" he managed to gasp out and he was immediately let go by his assailant and received a well-deserved apology. He stumbled backwards and for the first time got a good look at the scene before him. His assailant turned out to be Euphy. Behind her were Nunnally and another woman, both smiling. In the far corner Sayuko and Reuben stood looking tense.

 **Euphy.**

The realization set in causing blood to drain from his face. His knees quivered a little but he quickly took a deep breath and regained his composure with the usual faint smile plastered on his face. Beside him Suzaku remained frozen with an expression of utter shock.

"Euphy! What a surprise." his voice was cheerful enough to sound genuine. At any other time, he would have congratulated himself on his acting skills and had he not been a member of a certain family he could have even considered becoming an actor. But as fate would have it, he was doomed to either live in obscurity or wage a war against Britannia. He preferred the second.

"I happened to run into Nunnally by pure luck when I was with Miss Cecile" she chirped gesturing at the previously unknown woman who bowed to him respectfully with a "Your Highness".

'Oh God! She knows everything' he thought with dismay. He only hoped Euphy hadn't called Cornelia. It was Euphy's most probable move which was 99.9% likely. But there was still that 0.1% he had faith in- the 0.1% that would allow him to clean up this mess with his geass.

She began her tale summarizing her highly eventful morning with Suzaku and Cecile eventually joined by Nunnally, Sayuko, Reuben with dear sister Nelly in a phone call cameo who would get the role of main supporting later in evening. He personally thought Cornelia had caused the most damage since she must have already spread the news to Schneizel and in extension the Emperor.

'There goes my 0.1%'.

An hour later Milly had come over leaving the management of the school festival in the hands of Shirley, Rivalz and Kallen. He welcomed this because Milly kept the others distracted in the dining room allowing him peace in the kitchen. He kept up the appearance of helping prepare lunch when he was brainstorming the possible scenarios he could face.

Firstly, if no announcement was made regarding their survival he was sure they would be killed. It could be a secret execution or an assassination/accident. If it were announced, they would be heading back to Pendragon. They could be charged with treason and executed, which was highly unlikely because it would be damaging to Britannia's image. They could be used again as political hostage or the emperor could capitalize on his strategic prowess by making him join military and aid in conquests or go into civil services. If it was the latter, he would be installed as a viceroy or made to stay in Pendragon and deal with the pit of vipers that was the imperial court. In any case, one thing was clear: Nunnally would become the hostage of the emperor and would undoubtedly be used to control him essentially making him the emperor's slave. Even if Schneizel eventually took the throne, Lelouch had no doubt that he would continue this tradition. Schneizel would view him as a threat. Even if he managed to convince Schneizel that they were on the same side, Nunnally would be the insurance to keep him in check (pun intended). The conclusion remained the same: he and Nunnally were prisoners forever unless he took the throne for himself which was impossible because he had renounced the claim to the throne. They could be saved if Cornelia took the throne, but she had never wanted to. And even if she did, he doubted if he really wanted her to; she was as insensitive to the Numbers and as much a believer of social hierarchy as the emperor was and he wanted nothing more than to end this inhumanity. So that left Euphy and Nunnally.

He wanted to create a gentle world for Nunnally just as he had promised her even if it cost him his own life – if it was for her happiness, Lelouch would do it in a heartbeat. He had made it his goal to put an end to Britannia's brutality. He was being forced back into the empire instead, and he certainly couldn't lead a rebellion anymore. But now that he did think from this perspective, he realized that he didn't have to destroy the empire itself but its ideologies – everything that made it Britannia – which would give the same results. And with someone like Nunnally or Euphy running it, Britannia would become a just nation.

He smiled inwardly at this tiny glimmer of hope. It was better than nothing. Now, what he needed the most were allies who, he knew, wouldn't come easy. But he would think about this once he had surveyed everyone available. It had been years since he was last in Pendragon and didn't remember most people. He sighed and continued making the dessert.

Soon enough, they sat at the table with Euphy sitting between Lelouch and Nunnally reminiscing of their childhood.

Unbeknownst to them, the green haired witch, annoyed by all the commotion, had snuck downstairs and had spotted the pink haired princess. It didn't take much to infer from this that the cover was blown. "This complicates things" she grumbled and went back to the comfort of pizzas she had ordered back in her (technically Lelouch's) room.

Evening came and with-it Cornelia, accompanied by her knights Darlton and Gulliford. Reuben had smuggled them inside through the school's secret escape routes to avoid unnecessary attention since the festival was still going. By now, Milly had gone back to take care of the fireworks that would mark the end of the festival.

And now, standing before him was his elder sister complete with her mane of purple hair and her usual air of dominance that made him think of a lion. She was kneeling in front of Nunnally greeting her saying something that made the three sisters snicker and made him suspicious if they were plotting something against him like they did back in Pendragon.

Cornelia got up walking towards him and scooped him up in a bear hug. It wasn't rib-crushing like Euphy's but more motherly - tender enough for his frail body to handle. "Sister Nelly" he muttered as she rubbed his back comfortingly. In the days following his mother's death and Nunnally's admission in the hospital, Cornelia had been a huge support to him. He hadn't cried when his mother was assassinated or during her funeral. It was only when he was alone with Cornelia in his room that the tears finally came. She hadn't comforted him with hollow words like others would have but instead had him become independent for he had to be strong for Nunnally's sake. It was only because her lecture back then that he could become strong enough to endure all the horrors that followed without shattering like most would have. ' For Nunnally' he kept repeating like a mantra whenever he felt like just giving up in that horrendous warzone that Japan had become.

When he had vowed to obliterate Britannia, he had accepted battling against her; it was inevitable but his love and respect for her had never wavered. It was as Cornelia had once told him- "Leave your emotions outside the battlefield. If you can't do that, then leave the battlefield." He had taken it to heart.

Following the recent meeting with Clovis, though, seeds of doubt had been planted in his head. Clovis had said that Cornelia and Schneizel knew about the assassination. As much as he hated the idea, he couldn't help but suspect their involvement.

"It's good to see you Lelouch. I'm proud of you" she whispered.

"Thanks Nelly" he smiled, this time a genuine one.

"You two are heading back to Pendragon first thing in the morning. Until then you'll stay with me and Euphy in the Government building." she said once she had released him.

"No! Can't we stay here for tonight. I want to, at the very least, say goodbye to my friends and I'm sure Nunnally wants to as well." he protested. In reality, he wanted to have a word with Reuben and figure out what to do with the green haired girl upstairs.

"It's dangerous, Lelouch. Clovis was assassinated a week ago. I'd be an idiot to leave you two here."

"Please sister Nelly" Nunnally pleaded with a puppy face that could make a rock melt.

"Well I suppose..." Cornelia began uncertainly.

"We should let them be with their friends. It would be terrible if they left without any explanation and them finding of why from the media." Euphy chimed in. Lelouch smirked inwardly. This was checkmate for Cornelia. Feared as she was in battlefield, Cornelia could never win against the combined puppy-faces of those two.

Cornelia sighed in defeat. "Very well. But I'm leaving a few guards here and I'll come in the morning to fetch you myself." she said sternly. The Lamprouge siblings nodded obediently.

Two hours later, after everyone left using the secret escape routes and Nunnally had been tucked in, Lelouch sat with Reuben, both looking solemn.

"Lelouch, I hope you realize the gravity of the situation." Reuben began carefully.

"I know. I've already come up with possible scenarios. One thing remains constant though: Nunnally will be used to control me and we'll both remain prisoners for the rest of our lives regardless of who the emperor is- Father or Schneizel- unless I somehow take the throne which is impossible because I renounced my claim. I was thinking having Nunnally or Euphemia become the empress"

Reuben nodded. "It's not just that, though." He sighed. "Listen carefully. Years ago, your mother served in the military as a Knight of Round under the 97th emperor, Christopher ri Britannia. She was highly respected and feared throughout the empire that led to her being dubbed as "Marianne the Flash". During this this time, she met the then seventh prince, Charles zi Britannia. The two shared a similar view that the emperor's hold on the court was weakening. She supported him heavily in his quest to claim the throne leading to the assassination of Christopher and Charles' coronation as the emperor in 1997. Within a month of this he married Marianne making her the fifth consort. Normally, there would have been an uproar if the emperor married a commoner, but Marianne, though not exactly accepted, wasn't outrightly condemned by the court because of her services to the empire- her title as the Knight of Six- which gave her the same status as a duchess- and to avoid incurring the ire of the emperor. In any case, many staunch nobles disfavored her." he paused. "Back during his days as a prince, Charles had entered into a proxy marriage with the daughters of many influential figures to gain them as allies. You might ask why marriage; though Charles is smart, he was never a chess master like you or Schneizel, so he capitalized on his status and looks. There's another thing about him: he skill in obtaining information about people is unrivaled. Even with that skill I could never understand how he eliminated prince Robert; what with his strategic prowess." his voice dropped to a murmur.

Shaking his head, he continued, "We have drifted a little off topic. As I was saying, many of the women he was in proxy marriage with already had sons and daughters from him when he married them upon ascension to the throne. That's the reason you are the eleventh prince despite Marianne being the fifth consort. Two years later, you were born. By this time, it had become clear she was his most favored consort. Added to this was the fact that she resided at the Aries Villa which has historically been used by the first consort, if there were more than one. Because of this the other consorts and the noble families loyal to them held her in contempt. But things remained more or less quiet. Ten years later she was assassinated."

"If she was the most favored then why was investigation stopped?"

"I have no idea why that happened. It makes no sense. Obviously, something bigger was going on." he said quietly.

"Lelouch, you need to understand that the nobles won't harm you on their own accord. They won't partake in regicide unless they have a very strong, infallible even, support of influential royals. None of the nobles want to shoot the first arrow – they will hold their horses until some royal pulls the trigger. Even if your family is bent on killing you, once the announcement of your survival is made, you will come under the limelight- it's not every day that dead royals return-and the situation will be too delicate for them to try to harm you immediately. They won't try anything for at least a year; consider this a protection given by media. Try to get out of Pendragon and to some Area as soon as possible. You'll have gain allies from outside and present a good opposition to Schneizel before he is announced as the heir, which could happen in a couple of years. The court as whole more or less supports him so you've got a long way to go and too little time."

Lelouch faintly nodded in agreement. He was being thrown into the ocean with nothing but a float while Schneizel had a ship.

"Now, coming to what you said about taking the throne. I don't think it is necessary to make one of the two the empress" Lelouch quirked his brow at that. Reuben continued, "You did renounce your claim to the throne but it was never officially recognized. It couldn't be taken from you if you were to be used as a political hostage, and after the invasion, you were declared dead. So, it was never made official." he said with his smile growing wider by the second.

"Hence, Lelouch vi Britannia, you still are, legally and otherwise, the eleventh prince and the seventeenth heir to the throne of the Holy Britannian Empire, making you eligible to take the throne, if so desired." he concluded grinning.

"That's convenient." Lelouch assessed and two men fell into a comfortable silence.

While the two were lost in their thoughts, a green headed figure strode into the room.

"I'm coming to Pendragon with you." she declared. Both men jerked up to look at their new company. Lelouch nearly chocked on seeing her and quickly looked over to the wide-eyed Reuben to give an explanation.

"You! Lady CC." Reuben breathed. Lelouch blinked ' Lady CC?'

"If it isn't Ashford" she deadpanned before turning to Lelouch with her hand extended "Phone".

"what for?" he asked eyeing her suspiciously.

"Pizza".

He didn't want to part from his phone which he had recovered only a while ago from Milly.

"Why don't you use the landline?" he suggested.

She stared for a moment and nodded briefly before leaving the room.

"You know her?" Lelouch enquired turning to the still surprised man.

Reuben nodded. "I've only met her twice before. She was you mother's ally. I really don't know much about her other than the fact that she is powerful enough to bargain with the emperor." he paused for a moment to decide before lowering his voice, "I personally think that Marianne's assassination was successful only because she was in Europe at the time and not in contact. Strangely enough she doesn't look any older than she did back then. But then again, cosmetic industry has advance quite a bit."

This piece of information was disturbing. The mystery that was her kept getting murkier. What power? As far as he knew, even the Grand Dukes of the court couldn't negotiate once the emperor gave his word. Then, how could she? Did it have anything to do with geass? There was the fact that she was his mother's ally and her supposed immunity to aging. This did raise questions about her age. She had also survived a bullet to the head. Was she immortal then? The idea sounded laughably impossible, but knowing about geass, he wasn't so sure.

"You seem to know her. Why is she here?" Reuben cut through his thoughts.

"I met her just a week ago. As for why she is here, well, its a complicated story." he answered ambiguously.

Reuben seemed to understand though, and did not press the matter.

"I should leave you to rest now. Tomorrow will be a long day." Reuben began while getting up.

"We may not be as powerful as we once were but know this: the Ashfords will support and assist you in every way possible, just like we did your mother."

Lelouch smiled gratefully, also getting up "Thank you Reuben, I sure appreciate that."

Once the elderly man had left Lelouch ran back to his room and faced the green haired woman lounging on his bed.

"Who are you?" he had long realized that beating around the bush would get you nowhere with her. She would only speak in circles and leave you with more questions than answers.

"Do you enjoy making people introduce themselves over and over?" she drawled.

"Answer it!"

"Fine. I'm CC."

He face-palmed at this and took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Were you my mother's ally?"

"Yes"

"Are you my ally?"

"Yes"

"Why? Because I'm her son?"

"No. Its because we have a contract. I need my wish fulfilled and for that I'll do everything in my power to ensure your survival and make sure you have all conditions you require to fulfill your end of the bargain." she stated.

"What is your wish?" he questioned.

"It isn't something that will interfere with your plans." she assured him.

He suddenly remembered her declaration earlier and took a few steps towards her in an attempt to look more intimidating. It was lost on her, though.

"Why do you want to come to Pendragon?" he asked slowly.

She exhaled deeply, looking as if she had been forced to explain the importance of brushing teeth to a stubborn, candy-loving five-year-old.

"I believe you know your situation well. I know you're thinking that you can out-strategize others and probably cheat your way to the top with your geass." Lelouch frowned at this. 'Cheat' wasn't what he would call it; it was optimum utilization of resources.

Ignoring the look on his face, she continued, "You aren't wrong - you are a chess master, after all. But as of now, you neither have a board nor any useful pieces."

Lelouch had no trouble inferring what she was suggesting. Much as he hated to admit it, she was completely right - he wasn't spoiled for choice. The only course of action was to hand over the reins to her and accept the resources she offered him. Not that he didn't appreciate the assistance, but he didn't like the idea of incurring such a huge debt to a person he barely knew-especially when he still didn't know the terms of the contract.

"How can I trust you when I know nothing about you?" he whispered, looking at her intently.

She held eye contact for a few seconds. Lelouch flinched inwardly at the piercing gaze of those haunting golden eyes. She stood up abruptly, looking past him outside the window.

"You don't. You just have to trust my selfishness." she said with a finality in her tone and strode out of the room.

"Hey! Where are you going?" he called after her.

"Come along".

He followed her to Nunnally's room but caught her hand before she could open the door.

"She's sleeping."

"I have a good reason. You're going to tell her evening about what happened seven years ago, why you were hiding and your plans of taking the throne. You will." she asserted when he opened his mouth to argue. "You can't shield her from everything. If she's being tossed into quicksand she better know what's quicksand."

He threw her a long calculating gaze. He understood what she was referring to- Nunnally knew very little of what had happened seven years ago and would probably still hold the view of everyone back home being a big happy family like she did before. He let her believe this because he didn't want her to face the harsh reality; he loved her innocence too much. But this view would make her blindly trust their half siblings and leave her extremely vulnerable to manipulations. Though it was strange how CC knew all this, he decided he didn't really want to spend time and effort to solve her mystery- it was pointless. He would simply accept it from now on.

Finding CC's logic sound, he let go of her hand and gestured her to enter the room and followed her in. He moved cautiously towards his sister's sleeping form and shook her gently.

"Big brother?" came her groggy voice.

Lelouch helped her sit up and took her hands in his own before beginning "You see Nunnally, there is something I wish to tell you, something you must know before we go to Pendragon."

And so he began to recount the series of incidences that took place following their mother's assassination, including the far from civil conversation that took place in the throne room leading to their exile and the reason they had been hiding all these years. Nunnally listened silently clutching her brother's hand the entire time. She had always known that her brother had shielded her from much of what had transpired in the days following the assassination and the Japan invasion, but for the first time she realized just how much: a lot. She shuddered to think that Lelouch had endured all this alone when he was no older than ten and had simultaneously looked after, always cheerful around her so she wouldn't worry. But now that she knew, she felt like crying. But she wouldn't let a single tear fall; she wouldn't make him regret telling her and keep taking all the burdens himself.

He continued, painting a picture of their current situation, which was precarious, to say the least, and what he thought would probably happen in the future. Through his analysis one thing became painfully clear: if they so much as wanted to pick their birthday party dress, Lelouch would have to become the emperor. He went on explain how he had originally planned to destroy Britannia to end its brutality for good because he wanted to create the gentle world she had envisioned. If he became the emperor it would give him the power to end the tyranny all the same. She found herself agreeing with him completely, though she was a little shocked that he had planned on fulfilling her wish; she never expected it to be realized, but she wished all the same.

Next, he got to who CC was and how she had given him the geass and proceeded to explain what the power was. It didn't seem morally right to her but she understood fully well that they did not have the luxury of choice. When he had finished speaking they fell into a long silence.

It was Nunnally who spoke first. "Big brother, I want to help you in all this in whatever way required."

"Yes, I will." she said firmly when she felt his hands tense in hers. "You are going to need people you can trust and as many allies as you can get." she reasoned.

"You know she's right, Lelouch. You're in no position to be picky." CC said joining the conversation for the first time.

"Nunnally, this is rather dangerous. I don't want you to get into any of this." Lelouch explained

"Why? Is this because of my disability?" Nunnally asked.

He gasped. "No Nunnally. Its not-"

"Then what? Do you believe in what they said? That I'm of no use?". Nunnally was shaking now, on the verge of tears.

"Of course not-"

"Then why can't I join in? If you don't agree with what they said, then stop treating me like a fragile porcelain doll and allow me to act. I don't want you keep shielding me from everything.

If you keep me sheltered any longer, you will only prove them right- that I am just a dependent weakling who can't even be used for a political marriage. I don't want to be seen as a tool to control you. I don't want to be your weakness. I want to lend you strength in whatever way I can." she asserted with determination.

"I will assist you, Lelouch."

Lelouch remained silent for a long time. Sensing her strong will to do this, he realized his baby sister had grown up, after all. "All right. If you want to, then I won't stop you." he said finally. Nunnally smiled at this.

"CC, is it possible for me to get a geass?" she asked.

"NO!" Lelouch yelled. "There's no way-"

"Nunnally," CC began calmly "giving you geass right now will be counterproductive. I gave Lelouch geass only because it was a life or death situation. Rest assured, I will give it to you if necessary."

Nunnally nodded in understanding. "I trust your judgement."

This calmed Lelouch a bit.

Lelouch rose from his kneeling position and sat on the bed beside Nunnally, pulling her into an embrace.

"Everything is going to change, isn't it?" Nunnally whispered.

"Yes Nunnally." he smiled gently. "Are you ready for it?"

Nunnally mirrored his smile. "Without a shadow of doubt."

March 16, 2017.

Tokyo Settlement, Area 11 (Japan).

 **Morning**

Milly, Shirley, Rivalz and Nina made way to clubhouse that was the home of the Lamprouge siblings.

"Where's Kallen?" Milly asked when she didn't see the redhead.

"She was really exhausted after yesterday, so she said she will come later in the morning." Shirley replied.

"It would have better if she could be here." Milly mused.

"Madame President, why did he call us?" Rivalz questioned. "If its a party, morning isn't the best time."

"You'll see." Milly muttered mysteriously.

A few minutes later the company entered the clubhouse. It was crawling with Britannian guards

"Whoa! This is pretty weird." Rivalz commented. "Did Lelouch get arrested or something?"

"What happened, Madam Prez? Did something happen to Lulu?" Shirley asked, concerned.

Meanwhile, Nina only looked sacred.

Milly only shook her head and entered the sitting room with the others following tensely. Inside they found Lelouch and Nunnally waiting for them with two guards standing some distance from them.

Lelouch turned to them and instructed them to leave after assuring them that there was no danger. They complied, bowing slightly. All the while Shirley, Rivalz and Nina looked perplexed.

Turning to them, Nunnally spoke, "Sorry for asking you to come this early in the morning but Lelouch and I wanted to say goodbye before leaving."

"Leaving?" Shirley queried.

"Why the guards, Lelouch?" asked Rivalz "And why the hell are they bowing to you?"

"Yeah" Lelouch answered Shirley. "We won't be staying here any longer."

"Wait, are you leaving for good?" Rivalz gasped.

Lelouch nodded.

"Why?"

The siblings were silent for a few moments before Lelouch spoke up, "Nunnally and I have been living here under a fake identity. Our true names are Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia."

The silence was deafening.

"Milly's family had been sheltering us since the Japan Invasion." he continued.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Lulu, this is a crazy joke."

"Her majesty Marianne vi Britannia's children?" Nina muttered and got a nod of confirmation from Milly who had heard.

Lelouch sighed. "I know it's a lot to take in, but its true. This is all I can tell you right now. For your own safety, I'll request you not to involve yourselves too much."

"You have all been great friends. Thank you so much that." Nunnally said. "But we have to leave now."

Rivalz, Nina and Shirley looked at each other, not knowing what to make of this.

A moment later the door opened and Princess Cornelia walked in towards Lelouch and Nunnally.

"Lelouch, we will be late." she said starting to steer Nunnally's wheelchair towards the door.

Lelouch nodded.

"Is that Princess Cornelia?" Rivalz whispered. None of the friends dared to even breathe. None of this made sense to them.

"Bye." Lelouch said pausing by the door receiving a wave of hand from a sorrowful Milly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lelouch, Nunnally, Cornelia and CC were on their way to the government building when Cornelia spoke up, "Lelouch, who is this lady?" she asked gesturing towards CC. "And why did you want her to accompany us?"

"Her name is CC. She's my friend." Lelouch answered.

Cornelia looked unconvinced.

"Cornelia, may I request something of my big sister?" Lelouch pleaded. "I really need to bring her to Pendragon with us; it is essential. Don't ask me what the motive is, or who she really is; I can assure you she poses no threat. But I need a way to get her to stay with me and Nunnally without it looking suspicious. Can you please help me with that?"

Cornelia was silent for a long time making Lelouch increasingly agitated.

"Sister Nelly, please. You have to help us." Nunnally requested.

"I trust your judgement." Cornelia finally said.

They brainstormed the various excuses they could give to bring CC along. They could pass her off as Nunnally's caretaker, a protector of the two or Lelouch's fiancée. Protector most certainly

wouldn't work; she wasn't affiliated to Britannia in any way and once they were taken into the empire's fold, their protection would be taken care of by qualified royal guards, not an unknown woman. Nunnally's caretaker could work but if he were to go on some mission and decide to make Nunnally stay at some safe location, CC would likely accompany him to ensure his safety. How, then, was he to explain why her caretaker was accompanying him? It would certainly lead to a lot of complications. Besides, Cornelia pointed out they would need to forge some documents to prove her competence without any figures of authority finding out, which was difficult at such a short notice. The third option would allow her to accompany him anywhere without raising suspicions. Cornelia insisted that since he was the eleventh prince who did not hold much stakes (hell, as of now, the twelfth and thirteenth princes had more power), had apparently lost too many years to have any knowledge to even contend for any powerful position and the fact it was just an engagement that could easily be broken on the emperor's intervention-unlike a marriage- most royals and court nobles wouldn't bat an eyelash. If this entire thing could be kept from the media-which wasn't difficult, considering the censorship laws- there would be no problems. They would only have to spin out a convincing story about her. Lelouch, albeit grudgingly, accepted that this option was the most efficient and least risky. CC, who had been silent the entire time only shrugged at the suggestion.

By now, they had reached the government building.

"Father said that we are to make the announcement of your survival in Japan itself." Cornelia informed them.

They continued inside towards Cornelia and Euphemia's personal quarters and were later joined by a smiling Euphy. They introduced CC, who now wore one of Euphy's rings that Cornelia had snuck out from her collection (She assured that Euphy wouldn't realize it), as Cera Corabelle and Lelouch's fiancée to her (They had agreed that the less people knew the truth, the better it would be and decided that the four of them would be the only ones to know.). After Euphy had gotten over her initial shock, she made a casual conversation with CC. Lelouch heaved a sigh of relief to see CC being civil enough with her. The vi Britannia siblings proceeded to have a video chat with Schneizel who was in the recently established Area 18, overlooking its smooth transition into a Britannian area. Cornelia cut their conversation short stating that the announcement had to be mad soon.

"You all should change into something less casual." Cornelia concluded after assessing their attires.

The next half an hour was spent dressing up the vi Britannia siblings into some extravagant clothes for their public 'debut' while CC got away with a simple but elegant beige A-line frock.

Cornelia was the one to break the news followed by Lelouch spinning out a story explaining why they had lived in obscurity. He said that following their mother's assassination, Nunnally had developed severe PTSD and had problems coping with the double disability. Staying alone gave the time she needed to come to terms with it. He hadn't contacted his family because he knew they wouldn't let the two stay in a foreign land. It was only after Nunnally's PTSD had gotten better that he contacted Cornelia. It wasn't a completely unbelievable story, just a little far-fetched.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The news of their beloved Vice-President and his sister being royals spread like wildfire at Ashford. To say the students went berserk was an understatement. Meanwhile, the student council members, now joined by Kallen, sat in their usual meeting room, Milly being bombarded all sorts of questions regarding Lelouch and her role in all of this.

"Hold it!" she yelled in exasperation. Taking a deep breath, she began,

"Yes, I had known this right since the beginning. My family had been his mother's most trusted allies but we fell from favor following her death. We settled here in Area 11 and founded this school. When Japan was invaded, Lelouch contacted us requesting protection."

This piqued Kallen's interest. 'So, they had been here before the invasion.' she mused. 'The question is why.'

"My grandfather used what little influence he had to forge documents and fake identities for them. Lelouch had originally wanted to escape to EU, but grandfather couldn't arrange for fake passports and visas so he settled for attending this school with Nunnally." Milly explained.

Rivalz reclined in chair thoughtfully.

"But why was he in Japan in the first place?" Rivalz voiced Kallen's question.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot divulge any more information. As Lelouch said, its for your own safety." Milly replied.

The others exchanged looks, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

Shirley, who had confusion written all over her face, spoke next, "Madam President, why did he come to you and not return to his family? We know Nunnally didn't suffer from PTSD." she hunched forward placing her hands on the table.

"He was hiding from them!" Nina gasped in realization her back ramrod straight but cowered quickly when everyone's gazes focused on her.

"Hide from them!" Rivalz exclaimed in disbelief. "He's royalty, not a fugitive. Why refuse to live a life that comfortable."

"Yeah. Why refuse?" Kallen backed him. "Lelouch is a lazy, arrogant, spoilt brat. I really can't imagine him refusing a life in which he has to do nothing and still gets everything."

This earned her a scowl from Shirley.

Milly shook her head at their lack of understanding. Most people, nobility included, knew nothing about royal life, it was that well-guarded. It was only because her family was personally involved in the court politics as Grand Dukes and Duchess and had been Lady Marianne's top allies that they knew.

"I'll tell you a bit about what that life is like." she said at last. "But, you must never speak of this to anyone. EVER" she said forcefully.

They nodded in agreement.

"Life as a royal is nothing like what the fairy tales make you believe. Its a competition in which the winner gets the throne, in which your family members are either allies or enemies and the royal court is a pit of vipers waiting to devour whoever makes a mistake. Lelouch and Nunnally are in a rather tight spot right now; they have quite a few enemies."

"You don't mean they will be assassinated like their mother, do you?" Nina asked quietly. Her knowledge came from her grandfather being the head of Research and Development in the development of the first Knightmare frame, an endeavor funded and managed by Milly's grandfather with Lady Marianne as the test pilot. She didn't know the politics surrounding it, though- her family were commoners. But following Lady Marianne's death and the downfall of Milly's family even her family got sidelined, eventually losing everything. Following the invasion, she too had been taken in by the Ashfords and had been attending the school since.

She had done a little more research since she found out about the heritage of the two. Hardly anything was known about the assassination, but Nina had good hacking skills. She had, from many obscure sources, learnt that the assassins had never been caught. She also found out that following this the two had been held as political hostages in Japan before the invasion and had been believed dead since.

"WHAT!" Rivalz screeched making Nina flinch.

"Is that true? Was Lulu's mother really assassinated?" Shirley asked her voice shaking slightly.

Even Kallen was in the dark about this and wanted answers. The general public knew of only her death, not the cause.

Milly nodded sorrowfully. "They are the children of Marianne vi Britannia. Nunnally got caught up in that as well. She narrowly survived it; Lady Marianne shielded her with her own body. But the doctors couldn't save her from the blindness and paralysis of legs."

The room was enveloped in a pin-drop silence. They had never known the reason for Nunnally's condition and they had never tried to ask Lelouch about it either.

"Wait" Kallen threw up her hands stopping Milly who was about to speak. "Marianne as in 'Marianne the Flash'- the first knightmare pilot?"

Milly nodded. As much as she hated Britannia, Kallen had always admired her piloting skills. To think she was her classmate's mother. But Shirley and Rivalz didn't seem to know much about this, judging from their confused looks.

"The assassins were never even identified. They only say it was a terrorist attack. But its impossible for anyone to get past all the security in the any palace, let alone the Aries Villa. That one is one of the most heavily fortified." Nina mused thoughtfully. "It should have been impossible to carry out an operation like this."

But then she remembered what Milly had said about the imperial family and her eyes widened with horror as realization struck.

"It was someone from inside." she managed to squeak out.

Shirley and Rivalz looked at her incredulously. Kallen only shook her head in disgust at the extent of Britannia's deceit.

"Exactly what Lelouch concluded back then." Milly confirmed.

"Madam President, if the assassins were never caught and they are people from inside, does it mean that they will go after Lulu and Nunna?"

The silence of addressee spoke volumes and an atmosphere of dread settled in the room.

"They won't try anything for around a year; the media will be extremely interested in the two of them. That's what grandfather said." Milly assured them. "But he also said that Lelouch and Nunnally will be as good as prisoners there unless Lelouch takes the throne."

This earned Milly a collective gasp.

"Can he do it?" Rivalz voiced everyone's question. "I mean, he is going against the likes of Prince Schneizel and Princess Cornelia."

Milly only smiled mysteriously.

"What is it, Madam Prez?" Shirley asked inquisitively.

Milly chuckled. "Princess Cornelia does not want the throne. As for Prince Schneizel, well, Lelouch is as good a strategist as he is." The group's expressions changed to those of wonderment to know that the frail-looking Vice President could take on the Prime Minister. This made Kallen wonder if Lelouch had indeed been the one giving the instructions at Shinjuku and if the phone call had been a trick to protect his identity.

"And when it does come down to it, Princess Cornelia will pick Lelouch over Schneizel." Milly ended with a smirk.

"What about the others? They'll be competing too, won't they?" Nina questioned.

"According to what my grandfather told me, most are non-existent. Very few can compete. But in the end, it'll come down to Schneizel and Lelouch." Milly replied.

"Isn't that interesting..." Rivalz muttered.

"But why were they in Japan?" Shirley's curious voice came.

Milly looked torn. She took a full minute to consider her options before deciding.

She looked somber and spoke in a small voice. "I have already said a lot, so I guess a little more is all right. The investigation of the assassination was stopped abruptly by the emperor and quite naturally Lelouch went to question him and demand justice. But the emperor was only angered by this and as a punishment for Lelouch's 'transgression' he sent him and Nunnally to Japan as political hostages during the Sakuradite conflict. Only months later, Britannia invaded with them still here. Lelouch somehow navigated through that warzone and managed to contact us. Nunnally couldn't fend for herself, so he had to look after her as well. It took such a huge toll on his body that he was unconscious for about two weeks. We kept fearing he would slip into a coma. He didn't want to go back to homeland after that and we had been hiding the two until now."

Silence filled the room. No one knew what to say.

"All that when he was ten?" Shirley murmured but everyone heard.

"Don't they hate Britannia?" Kallen asked, her voice spiteful which surprised everyone.

Milly leaned forward and whispered, "He never said so openly but he quite obviously does. He hates Britannia and the emperor more than anything." she reclined in her chair before continuing in her normal voice. "As for Nunnally, I can't tell. Lelouch shielded her from most of this; Nunnally doesn't know what happened. She has no reason to hate."

Kallen slumped back and crossed her arms in cogitation. 'I see. Lelouch Lamprouge was a mask after all-the easy going, friendly and shy boy-just like the sick girl Kallen Stadfield. The real him is as good as Schneizel and more importantly hates Britannia. I hope he makes a move against Britannia. But even so, I wonder if he will try to liberate Japan.'

Milly stood up drawing everyone's attention. She looked at them seriously before saying, "Whatever was said in this room, remains in this room. If you don't want your life compromised, don't breathe a word of this to anyone." She cast them an appraising look before opening the door to lead them all out.

A/N: I hope the POV transitions are not very jarring.

As for Lelouch handing over the reins to CC, I am aware many might disagree with it and believe Lelouch to be more in control of the situation like he was as Zero. While its true, there is also the fact that he had never expected to play the game from inside and unlike the rebellion options not planned the course of action. He probably wouldn't know where to look for allies and exactly how to proceed. After all, the last he was 'in the game' was when he was 10 and most certainly not window shopping for allies and political gain/control. He is at a loss now but will bounce back in a few chapters when he has grasped the situation better.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: As always, thanks for reading and reviewing

Return

Lelouch was staring at the roof of the jet they were travelling in, deep in thought, going over everything that had happened. After the announcement, he had been visited by Jeremiah Gottwald, a member of the Purist Faction, who had once been his mother's guard. On seeing him, Cornelia had had ordered everyone except the three of them out of the room. Once alone, the man had broken down, begging Lelouch to forgive him for being unable to protect his mother which surprised Lelouch. It was Cornelia who consoled him, though, saying it was not he who was at fault, but her. This perplexed Lelouch further but he kept quiet, instead assuring the man that he didn't hold him responsible. The man had pledged loyalty to Lelouch before leaving. Once alone with Lelouch, Cornelia had turned to him, explaining him that she was the one was the head of the security. That fateful night, she had been ordered to withdraw the guards by Marianne herself. This raised a rather disturbing doubt in Lelouch's mind: had his mother known the assassins personally? Had they requested a private meeting? If his mother had lowered the security, it meant that his mother had considered the party trustworthy. Cornelia had, apparently, led an investigation but before anything could be found, the emperor had ordered her to terminate the operation. The strangest piece of information she had let out was that Schneizel had been instructed to have his mother's corpse carried away to a secret location and that her body was never in the coffin that was buried. She had tried asking Schneizel about the location, but he had insisted that no matter how hard he tried, he could not recollect it. Lelouch was not sure about this, though: Schneizel was probably forbidden from speaking of it to anyone. But if that was the case, then surely, he could think of an excuse sounding less suspicious than a memory lapse. He wondered if had something to do with geass; his own caused a brief memory loss. There could be more geass users out there but he didn't know if they all had the same ability as his or if geass came in different varieties.

' I should ask CC about this' he concluded, turning to look at the witch who was folding paper cranes with his sister. He had already told Nunnally about the meeting with Jeremiah and but had left out the conversation with Cornelia; the matter was too sensitive and he didn't want to involve Nunnally in this until he had a good estimate of the threat level of this situation. He had agreed to make her a member of his 'team' but she was still his little sister and he wouldn't let her into uncharted waters.

Lelouch reclined in his seat, closing his eyes to settle for a short nap. It would take them a couple of hours to reach Pendragon and he wanted to have his brain fully operational to deal with whatever surprise they had planned for him.

After what seemed like minutes to Lelouch, he was woken up by a flight attendant who told him that Pendragon was nearing and that he should freshen up. Fifteen minutes later, they were at the private airstrip at the St. Darwin Street that was used only by the imperial family. The trio stepped out and were instantly greeted with a respectful bow accompanied with a "Your Highness" by the security personnel and escorts present there. CC had thoughtfully pulled her striking green hair in an updo and had donned a large hat that covered most of it to avoid drawing too much attention to herself. They boarded the limousine waiting for them.

Waiting for them inside was a was a blonde woman in her thirties who introduced herself as Countess Azure Clarson. Lelouch furrowed his brows at the familiarity of the name of the woman.

"I think I've heard the name before." he muttered his brows still furrowed in concentration.

The lady in question grinned wide.

"You remember, your highness?" she asked making both Lelouch and Nunnally look up in confusion.

"I used to serve under Her Majesty Marianne vi Britannia. My colleagues and I even watched over you on several occasions." she offered. "I used to read Celtic classics to you when you wanted a break from your Governess."

"It's you!" Lelouch exclaimed recalling the face of her younger self.

Azure smiled at him. "Henceforth, I'll be serving as His Highness' assistant." she declared nodding towards Lelouch.

"The Aries Villa has been prepared for you and the gardens are exactly as you liked them. A special caretaker, Zelda Brook, has been assigned to look after Princess Nunnally. Princess Cornelia's personnel informed us about Miss Corabelle; we have made arrangements for her as well."

"Thank you Azure." Lelouch said kindly, grateful to Cornelia for handling the entire situation without raising any suspicions.

A comfortable silence settled. Lelouch took this opportunity to process what she had said. She had said Aries Villa. He had not registered the word when she spoke it; he had been used to the palace being his home. Given the situation, they should have been housed in a lesser palace; they had lost all favour, whatever little they might have had, when their mother died. Why, then, had the emperor given them the Aries Villa? Perhaps, this was the emperor's way of telling him that he would have to make himself useful to Britannia in a substantial way.

"Who had been living at the Villa until now?" Lelouch ventured.

"No one, Your Highness." Azure answered. "It had been vacant until now."

Lelouch nodded.

"Although," she continued, "Her Majesty Anticlea eu Britannia, the first consort, did try to claim it. But it was never sanctioned by the emperor."

' This is interesting' he thought.

The limousine pulled over and they made way towards the palace, Lelouch wheeling Nunnally. He took a good look at the palace, assessing its state, noting it looked the same as it had all those years ago, the gardens included. They entered the main building through the front entrance and were introduced to the staff and security personnel by Azure. Following a short conversation with the housekeeper, a red- haired woman in her late forties, Lelouch found himself in the garden with Nunnally and CC. It was the same spot right adjacent to the vast expanse of the flower bed endowed with every colour imaginable where he and Nunnally had spent endless hours making flower necklaces. Right behind them was the fountain in which he and Clovis once had a water fight for which they had received almost an hour-long scolding. And then there was the patio where his mother loved to have tea in her evening, usually humouring a dazzled Cornelia with war related anecdotes.

He was pulled out of his reverie by Nunnally's voice.

"It used to be so much fun."

"It was." Lelouch agreed. "But the past is gone. Things are different now and I doubt they can ever be the same."

Nunnally smiled sadly and grasped her brother's hand tightly in her own. Alerted by a rustle beside him, Lelouch looked up to see CC move nearer to the flower bed and start picking carnations of different colours.

"What is she doing, big brother?" Nunnally asked looking curious.

"Picking carnations." he absently answered.

"Can I join her too?" she asked, shaking his hand, her voice earnest almost like a child asking for candy.

Lelouch chuckled. "Very well, my Lady." he joked.

"Stop teasing me!" Nunnally pouted feigning a hurt tone but failed miserably, barely refraining herself from snickering. A second later the siblings burst into a fit of laughter.

Recovering, Lelouch wheeled her towards the grenette with Zelda following them, who had been quietly standing behind smiling at the siblings' antics.

As his sister joined CC in her endeavour, Lelouch sat at a distance using this opportunity to assess Zelda; he had to be sure that anyone who had access to his sister was trustworthy. He looked over to the said woman. She was in her late twenties with grey eyes and shoulder-length lilac hair. Lelouch watched as she carefully picked up Nunnally from the wheelchair and set her on the grass and sat down herself at his sister's insistence helping them collect flowers.

"Your Highness?"

He turned his head to look at Azure who was standing with a tablet in her hand gesturing towards the building. Lelouch got up and followed her inside to the one of the sitting rooms. Once they were seated, Azure set the tablet on her lap and glanced at the screen before looking up at him.

"Your Highness, you have a meeting scheduled with the emperor tomorrow at 8 am." she stated.

"I assume most, if not all, of the court will be assembled." Lelouch said remembering his last visit to the throne room.

"It's a private meeting, Your Majesty." she informed him. "I'm not sure why it is so but I was told His Majesty would like to discuss about your future plans."

Lelouch expected this much. Of course, the emperor would want to put him to some use as soon as possible. If there was one thing Lelouch knew about him, it was that he wasn't one to waste resources - or time for that matter.

Lelouch lifted his head up to see Azure who looked like she wasn't done.

"Please continue" Lelouch urged.

"Um..." she glanced at the tablet again before speaking again. "The emperor also wants to throw a ball to celebrate your and princess Nunnally's survival and return. It is going to be a huge event"

Lelouch had absolutely no doubt that the "ball" was but another opportunity to drill the emperor's "Survival of the fittest" propaganda in the minds of Britannian citizens. 'How long will he keep poisoning them?' Lelouch questioned himself.

'Till he is overthrown' another part of his mind answered. 'Schneizel won't be much better, you know. He may not be as oppressive, but the numbers will still be treated like underlings.' a third part pointed out.

'The solution is to take the throne' he thought steeling his resolve.

Lelouch found Azure looking at him apprehensively, fidgeting with her fingers a little. He looked at her questioningly. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again shaking her head, eyes downcast.

"Is something wrong?" Lelouch asked cautiously.

"Uh." she hesitated. Lelouch gave her an encouraging smile.

She dipped her head, eyes downcast and exhaled deeply. "I was just noting that you look so much like Lady Marianne" she said a little hoarsely.

Instantly, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Azure continued to look at her feet.

"I do, don't I?" Lelouch whispered.

The two sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Lelouch contemplated her statement and her behaviour for a while. Her observation seemed too out of context. She must have been meaning to say something entirely different but thought better than to broach the topic. He wondered what she was trying to hide; it made him suspicious of her. But no, she had tried to speak up so it was probably a predicament of hers. He decided to drop the subject for the time being- she would only become defensive.

"Will that be all?" he asked, getting up.

Azure's head snapped up to look at him.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness." she stammered, quickly getting up herself. Lelouch nodded politely and exited the room.

Azure collapsed back in her armchair as soon as the automated engraved wooden door closed behind the retreating prince.

'Would he even...?' she wondered.

Lelouch entered his room feeling rather drained and collapsed onto the king-sized four-poster bed. Following the conversation with Azure, he had gone back to the gardens only to find the three females stringing the carnations in a necklace, with Nunnally and Zelda chattering and giggling while CC remained her stoic self. Leave it to his sister to make friends in record time. The two had gotten close enough for Nunnally to share all her food preferences with Zelda who had ensured that the dinner consisted of only Nunnally's favourite dishes.

In all honesty, Zelda didn't seem like she would betray but she hadn't gained his trust either.

Lelouch stared away from the tester, observing the fine craftsmanship that was the chandelier as it dispersed the light, bathing the room in an ethereal dim yellow glow. It was a ridiculously huge room with a beige-gold and wood theme which gave it a medieval touch. Most of the furniture was made of elegantly engraved wood. All the draperies were light golden in colour with delicate embroidery with a deeper shade of gold. The walls were pale beige except the one right opposite to the bed which had a deeper shade adorned with a white paint marker mural. To his right were floor to ceiling French windows that practically replaced the entire wall leading to a balcony and to his left was his walk-in closet.

Suddenly the door opened revealing who he recognised as CC. The dim light made her look more like an apparition than anything.

Because she was his "fiancée", their rooms were in the master suite-right next to each other with a common informal parlour that opened to the rest of the palace via a corridor.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

"How do you know the code?" he asked slowly. As far he remembered, he hadn't shared it with anyone and no, it wasn't his or Nunnally's birthday. Not his mother's either- nope, he wasn't that stupid. He had spent much of evening coming up with the most random number that held absolutely no significance to him- well, it did now but not then.

CC only shrugged noncommittally, while sauntering towards the bed and plopped herself down onto it.

"This is not a joke. I never told you what the code was. How did you find out?" Lelouch was sure she couldn't have tried all possible combinations, the security system disabled the unlocking mechanism after five wrong entries and alerted him via his phone. The system had to be reset to re-enable it which required his finger impression.

She looked at him with a bored expression. "The way I found out the PIN of your credit card" she paused for a moment before adding, "Two of them."

Lelouch's jaw dropped. This was absolutely alarming; something had to be done. At least the rest were safe, including his laptop and his account.

As if reading his thoughts CC smirked. "I'll sniff out all your passcodes. Don't bother changing them- I'll find out again." she said with a dismissive wave of hand.

Lelouch let out an exasperated sigh; if this woman turned out to be a double agent, he was doomed.

His worry probably showed on his face - after all, he had made no effort to wear a mask. Bizarre as it may sound, he had realised that he could simply drop all masks and just be himself in front of CC. It was probably because she was practically a stranger he somehow knew was trustworthy.

"You worry too much." she chided him. "I know how to keep a secret."

Lelouch shook his head defeat.

"Did you come here just to bother me?" Lelouch asked her tiredly.

"I came here to give you a piece of advice: behave." she drawled in her usual monotone.

Lelouch only blinked in confusion.

"Don't throw a fit tomorrow." she elaborated. "Bow to him, don't question him, do what you're told and be submissive."

Lelouch frowned at her. He had worked out that much – he didn't need her lecturing him as if he were a hot-headed child. He wasn't going to repeat what he did seven years ago.

"I know." Lelouch finally responded.

CC gave him a long calculating gaze that was somewhat eerie and made the prince's skin crawl.

Giving a slight nod, she abruptly left the room.

Lelouch decided to ignore her strange behaviour and rest himself for tomorrow. Even as his mind continued its everyday routine of brainstorming the various situations he would encounter tomorrow, his exhausted eyes closed themselves as he slowly drifted to dreamland.

A/N: this was a short and light chapter. The next one will include a rather interesting interaction involving CC. I have already said too much.

By the way, if I want to let you guys know anything about the next chapter or the story in general, I will write it on the bio page.

I just had an interesting idea. Should I post snippets of the upcoming chapter a couple of days before I upload it? Let me know if you guys want it. Of course, it will be on the bio page as well.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: As always, enjoy reading.

Allegiance

March 17, 2017.

St. Darwin street, Pendragon.

Morning.

Lelouch knelt in front of the Emperor, bowing respectfully. The setting itself was rather informal – they were in a veranda in the Pendragon Imperial Palace overlooking the Exelica Gardens. The emperor sat at a carved mahogany table, sipping tea from an ornate porcelain cup, the Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein, standing behind him.

Charles set down the cup and turned to face Lelouch.

"So, my prodigal son has returned." he boomed, his tone condescending.

Lelouch stood rooted at his place, not moving a muscle. He squinted a little to get a look at the emperor's expressions, his long black bangs hiding his eyes from view as the emperor carefully studied him.

"Would you like to explain why you chose to live in obscurity, ignoring your duties as a prince?" Charles nearly mocked.

"Your majesty, Nunnally had developed a severe case-"

"Spare me the lies, boy!" Charles bellowed causing Lelouch to flinch inwardly.

"Your actions these past years can be interpret as treason - you lied to the emperor by faking both your deaths." Charles continued angrily. "I could execute you this instant if I desired."

Lelouch stayed silent, fearing anything he said would upset the emperor further.

"Luckily for you, I find you useful. It'd be pity to waste a resource like your mind." Charles took another sip of his tea and continued without looking at Lelouch. "But first, I will test your abilities. If they are satisfactory, I will allow you to take Nunnally with you on your future assignments. If not, you two can still serve your country as political hostages or by entering into a political marriage."

Lelouch had to stop himself for gritting his teeth at this. The emperor was clearly baiting him into giving it his all to serve him. Despite the prince seeing the ploy clearly, both men knew that he was going to take this bait.

"Over the next few weeks, your abilities will be assessed and it'll be determined if you are indeed capable. Then I'll decide what happens. Is that clear?" Charles looked at him tauntingly as if challenging him to protest.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Lelouch replied.

"You are dismissed." Charles turned back to his tea and smirking inwardly he added, "Give my regards to your _fiancée_." he was quite certain his son's engagement was fake; he was itching to see just how well they could keep appearances.

"I will, Your Majesty." Lelouch said stiffly realising the implication of the emperor's tone. He stood up and exited the room.

Bismarck saw the door close through the corner of his eye and leaned forward towards the emperor.

"Your Majesty, is it wise?" he whispered.

"Leave us." Charles commanded and all the servants and guards bowed before leaving the two men.

Bismarck moved to stand at the opposite side of the table, sitting in a chair when Charles motioned him to.

"Is it wise?" Charles repeated. Bismarck sat silently, letting the emperor continue.

"Schneizel has started to pick up the clues and piece them together." Charles said knowingly. "Besides, he seems to be taking all the favour I give him for granted. Of all my children, Schneizel is the one I have favoured the most- he's had it too easy. Its time he learnt to be thankful."

Bismarck, catching the drift, frowned inwardly but decided to play along; though he was in no position to oppose the emperor, he could persuade the emperor to reduce the damage by staying in his favour. "It would be highly unfair to simply let him have the throne without even giving your other children a chance to fight."

Charles chuckled at the expense of all the contenders for the throne. That all of this and most of the 'Britannian activities' was simply a decoy, not one person could guess.

"And while the world enjoys the stand-off, the real evil will be defeated." Bismarck concluded earning a nod of approval from his friend of twenty-three years. Bismarck strongly discouraged starting wars unless absolutely unavoidable and here wars ware being used as a cover-up. Though he had been told that the completion of the plan would lead to an eternal peace, he sometimes wondered if it was worth all the bloodshed and despair. But he followed without questions, not just to stay in favour, but for the sake of a promise he had made nineteen years ago.

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 **Night.**

Lelouch was lying on the soft grass, staring at the stars and making out constellations like he did with Euphemia and Nunnally all those years ago. Only, now he was alone – Euphy was in Japan and Nunnally was indoors, planning for how her studies should be going with her tutors. She could have taken regular classes, but insisted on learning more about history and politics, subjects in which she wasn't naturally gifted and hence required a comprehensive study, instead of spending time over literature, art or pure mathematics so Lelouch could delegate to her. Lelouch, however, had wanted her to stay in touch with the sciences as well, which she agreed to after some convincing. He himself was to start taking his 'tests' from the 19th. He wasn't too worried about the entire affair – during the seven years of exile, he had taken the liberty to skip normal classes to his heart's content and used the time to hone his strategizing techniques through chess and extensively studied economics and warfare.

Today had been rather tiring; most of the day had been spent picking clothes for tomorrow's ball. The picking wasn't all that draining; it was the stylists that drove him crazy. He would rather not recall it- having them present before him a very few good outfits and a whole lot of ridiculous ones, all the while describing their fabric, dye, style and allied accessories down to the very last detail. The worst part was that they seemed to favour the frilly Clovis-esque ones and kept persuading him to pick one of those. In the end, he settled for an elegant attire consisting of a white shirt, light grey cravat, a slightly ruffled white waistcoat, white trousers and a white embellished tailcoat lined with light grey and gold accents accessorised with gold chains and gold cufflinks. Lastly was the white silk cloak embroidered with gold and embellished with amethysts. Unfortunately, his stylists vehemently opposed wearing that, calling the look bland and urged him pick something more exquisite, which he refused to do, quite naturally. Nevertheless, they had no choice but to accept it.

High Britannian society had a lot of social guidelines for clothing as well as symbolism. The basics of dressing had been taught to him in childhood as they were to every royal. The intricacies were told to him by Milly, who had researched extensively on this- the culture of public appearances being of appeal to her. Informal gatherings were not to be attended in heavy or exquisite clothes – the dress code was what commoners would call business suites for males and around knee-length dresses for females. For work, men usually wore tunics and leggings with an overcoat and epaulettes and women wore either formal frocks or business skirts. Formal balls, however, were all about dressing – you are never overdressed, only more fashionable and rich. Women, quite obviously, wore floor length ballgowns and men usually wore a more ostentatious version of his own attire. But a lot of older noblemen were rather overweight with a large belly and hence, preferred wearing a modified version of tunics more appropriate for balls.

In royal balls, clothing was usually used as a means of asserting power, declaring allegiances and for modifying public image. Dressing, here, was not to be done lightly, else risk sending the wrong message. Hence, all the ruckus in the afternoon. His stylists had wanted to make him look grand to boost his popularity and public image – to give him an air of superiority by making him dress more than anyone else. What they failed to understand, though, was that this image would be like painting a huge red cross on him. When he was a child, nine out of ten times he dressed in white. His white outfit was a camouflage – he didn't want them to take him a threat, yet. After all, in this world your survival expectancy was directly proportional to your deception skills. If he wore black, he would be acknowledging the nickname 'black prince' – black sheep of the family figuratively and literally (he was the only living royal with black hair) - and would be seen as either bending to their will or mocking them. Fun as the latter would be, it wasn't worth the trouble it would lead to.

As for Nunnally, she was going to wear a velvet and tulle violet gown – his official colour. It was known to most royals that his favourite colour was violet. Sometimes if a royal showed a considerable attachment to a colour, it was usually considered 'their colour' and anyone wearing that colour regularly or dressed in it entirely (not as a highlight or complement) at an even such as this, was regarded as that royal's ally. Another example was Cornelia; hers was maroon.

He would rather not have CC come and invite danger of exposing her identity, but the emperor sending her his 'regards' meant she had to come. She chose to wear a satin beige gown which was simple but elegant and would, most importantly, not draw too much attention to her and allow her to stay in shadows. Speaking of CC, he realised he hadn't seen her in a while. He wondered where she was or more appropriately, what trouble she was brewing.

Lelouch felt a chill in the breeze and decided to go inside. He absently wandered about the palace, his mind drifting back to his friends at Ashford when he nearly tripped over a stair he didn't see. As his mind jerked back to reality, his blood ran cold when he realised where he was standing. For a full minute, he just stared numbly at the staircase that stood in all its glory; the staircase where his childhood had so suddenly and undoubtedly ended. After a full minute of felling nothing, nostalgia, longing, sadness, helplessness and anger came to him one after the other, each stronger than the previous.

"Your highness?"

Lelouch turned to look at the source of the voice.

The moment Azure saw the prince standing frozen on that staircase, she knew she had to intervene. To see their own mother covered in blood, dead, shielding their sibling from bullets was a scene no child should have to witness. At the very least, it had been established just days after the assassination that princess Nunnally had no memories of the incident- Azure was thankful for that; the sweet girl didn't deserve the pain. But she could only imagine what it must be like for the prince; she herself and most of her colleagues were shaken to the core to see the woman they loved and respected deeply murdered so brutally. Lady Marianne, unlike many other consorts, was a very kind woman who cared for the people who served under her- a trait that made them stay steadfastly loyal to her. And working at the Villa, all the personnel had grown to love her children as well, both of whom had inherited her kindness- a trait that was so rare in the imperial family. When the two children had been exiled so heartlessly by the emperor, to say many of them were enraged was an understatement. But nothing could be done about it. And today when she heard what the emperor had proposed, her anger had been revived. How the emperor could do this to his own children, she never understood.

"Dwelling in the past brings more harm than good, Your Highness." she said softly.

The prince averted his gaze and choose to look at the stained glass.

"It does." He quietly confirmed still looking away. Azure could swear she saw a tear trail down his face.

'He's still a child!' she screamed mentally. 'He should be bright and happy, like princess Euphemia.'

After a few minutes of silence, she decided to voice the question she had since the day the they had arrived.

"Your Highness," she began carefully. "don't you hate him?"

The prince didn't show any change in demeanour making her wonder if he had heard at all. But then he turned with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What if I said I did?" he asked lightly. "What if I said I didn't?"

"I wouldn't believe you if you said you didn't." she answered with a smile. "And if you said you did..."

Azure knelt at the bottom of the staircase, crossing her right arm in front of her chest and bowed like she had done all those years ago when she swore loyalty to his mother.

"Then I pledge my loyalty to you, your highness and I shall serve you until my dying breath."

Lelouch was surprised to see this. He walked down to the where she was kneeling and asked her, "Will your loyalty never waver when I judge them all?"

"It will never." she replied firmly and she meant it, come what may. she wanted them judged. Not just the emperor, but every single one of the power-hungry leeches sitting up there destroying peoples' families, lives and happiness just to move one step ahead on the political ladder. Just like they done with her family; just like they had done with the boy standing in front of her; just like they were doing to hundreds of people. Azure was sick of this injustice, but she couldn't end it herself. But Lelouch could. She had watched him grow up, looked after him, even, at times. She had seen his kindness, sense of justice, intelligence and determination; it all showed even when he was a child, such was his bringing-up. If anyone could dare to challenge the system, it was him. Whether he failed or succeeded wasn't the most important. What mattered that he would try, do his best, of that she was sure.

"Rise." he commanded. Azure did so and Lelouch placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank You." he said sincerely.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charles sat by himself in the dimly lit throne room, thinking about the entire situation of Lelouch and Nunnally. He wished to consult with Marianne regarding this and then decide what to do with the two, but the Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim, was at standby in Area 18 with Knight of Nine, Nonette Enneagram, to subdue any resistance. Earlier today, he had dispatched Knight of Twelve, Monica Krushevsky, to replace Anya, but Anya wouldn't be here until the day after tomorrow and it was risky to speak over any communication channels. He could use a heavily encrypted line but he didn't want to take any risks and endanger Marianne. So, he settled with keeping Lelouch occupied and waiting for Marianne to return.

There was still the entire 'CC problem'. Even after seven years of searching, he didn't know where she was. Marianne had telepathically communicated with her a few times, but she could never get anything out of the witch, which annoyed his wife to no end. The two of them couldn't help but worry if she had abandoned the plan, especially since she had defected from the Geass Order as well. VV was rather nonchalant about it, though, but that was how his brother was. Just thinking about him made his blood boil. Because of that traitor Marianne was forced to stay hidden and he could hardly talk to her. And whenever they did meet, it was like fugitives. Charles absolutely hated meeting her like this.

"Your Majesty." The second-in-command of his Imperial Guard called. Charles looked at the kneeling man signalling him to continue.

"There's someone from the Order who would like to see you." he informed.

"Send them in." he commanded.

Immediately three figures walked into the room. The one in the centre wore a long cloak with a hood and was flanked by two of his imperial guards who had their weapons at the ready. The person in the centre stepped forward, allowing him a better view and lifted the hood slightly, brushing away their bangs- green he realised with a jolt- to reveal the red sigil on her forehead.

"Leave us!" Charles commanded and the three men quickly bowed and left the room.

"How many more surprises will this week bring?" Charles smirked.

"Who knows?" came her usual bored drawl.

Charles got up from his throne and led them both to his study, an extremely safe room, located deeper in the palace. The gigantic room wasn't as ostentatious as one would expect. In fact, it had very little furniture apart from a huge table, a few chairs and a couch. The walls of the room were adorned with several bookshelves. The flooring boasted of a to-scale world map at the centre of the room.

Closing the door securely behind him, Charles began, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

CC removed her hood saying, "You sent me regards this morning; it is only polite."

Charles was confused for a moment until he remembered the conversation with Lelouch this morning and his lips quirked up in amusement. Ha! His son's 'fiancée'.

"When is the wedding?" Charles joked.

The witch grunted as she took off her cloak and threw it unceremoniously on the ground, flopping into a chair herself.

"Tomorrow." She quipped. "But it'll be a runaway marriage. So, you are, quite obviously, not invited."

Charles feigned a hurt expression and began in wounded voice, "I'd give my blessings; no need to go that far. Besides, it is Marianne's dream come true." He chuckled at the memory of his wife fantasizing about it.

"I expect you to work your 'emperor magic' so I can continue my role play without any trouble. I find the position rather convenient in the current situation." CC dictated in a business-like tone.

Charles nodded in agreement. Her posing as Lelouch's fiancée would make it easier keep an eye on the children, giving Marianne some peace of mind - their safety being ensured. As a bonus, it would become a lot easier to contact CC.

"Consider it done." Charles assured. "Although, I'd prefer if you dyed your hair to some less noticeable colour."

"That goes without saying." The grenette placed a finger on her chin in contemplation. "I think I'll go with dull champagne with green undertones."

Charles thought it would look strange but decided against voicing his opinion; there were more important matters to attend to.

"About seven years ago..." Charles began unsure of how to approach. It was impossible to predict this woman and so, it was best to be cautious, especially in the current delicate situation when her allegiances were unclear.

"I trust you know she's alive." CC decided to venture. "And do I need to tell you who did it?" CC wanted to have an estimate of how deep this ran.

Charles' expressions instantly soured. "VV" he ground out. "Marianne's coming here the day after tomorrow."

'I see. She has a human host. I thought she hid herself in the C's world.' CC concluded.

"Who is the host?"

"Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim." he said sitting down in a chair in front of her. "Once she arrives, we can decide the future course of action."

"No need for that." she waved off dismissively, confusing Charles. Concentrating to channel the power of her code, CC set up a telepathic link with her contractee.

"Marianne?"

" _CC?_ " came her contractee's voice. " _Where on earth are you?"_

"Imperial palace." CC informed. " Charles is here with me."

CC walked over to Charles, grabbing his hand and merging consciousness with him to allow him to join the conversation. This was something she had wanted to do in both their presence. Though Charles was the one who would carry out the task, he still had some love for VV, while Marianne did not. Her persuasion would be needed to rid Charles of his inhibitions.

"I have good news for you." CC initiated the conversation. "Your offsprings are alive."

"They are both here" Charles supplemented. "Lelouch did a great job at hiding all these years. Unfortunately, Euphemia found them."

" _Charles!_ " Marianne exclaimed. " _How did you?_ "

"Merging of consciousness goes a long way" CC offered.

" _I see._ " Marianne accepted it as an explanation enough. " _What do you mean, they are here? Where is 'here'?_ "

"Aries villa. They are staying there. I'm not sure what to do with them. As of now, they're both occupied for at least a month and CC is posing as Lelouch's fiancée."

Marianne hooted loudly at the last statement, which annoyed the witch and made the emperor laugh.

Deciding to wrap up their cosy catch-up, CC called their attention to the matters of importance.

" Before that, CC" Charles said seriously, the previous atmosphere of light-heartedness dissipating completely. "Why did you defect from the Order and cut off contact with us?" Some things just had to be cleared up. "Marianne has already informed me that you initially disappeared and travelled to Japan because she requested you to keep an eye on Lelouch and Nunnally. When the Ashfords took them in, after the war ended, and you were sure they would be safe, why did you not come back to the order?"

"Why don't you ask your beloved brother about this?" CC's icy tone surprised the couple. That the usually indifferent woman's words were laced with venom proved whatever had happened had to be serious. " It seems he was dissatisfied with being the second in command. Take a guess of what happened."

" _That insolent little imp._ " Marianne growled. Yes, was fairly easy to deduce the reason for her 'defection'. He would have made use of the fact that he had many contractees in the Order to amass support and drive away CC, essentially usurping all the power.

It was CC who had founded the organisation hundreds of years ago, to protect geass users from the prevailing witch-hunts of anyone people found suspicious. Of course, the normal people couldn't catch on to who was a geass user, or even what it was for that matter. It was typically other geass users planting the seeds of doubts in the general public against their counterparts to eliminate threats. This would lead to a lot of conflicts and bloodshed. When a royal or noble was involved, wars ensued. Such was the condition of the medieval times. The Order would, hence, act as a neutraliser in conflicts, and do some serious damage control. When CC agreed to support the Ragnarok connection, the Order had been allied with Britannia and VV had been made the second-in-command, CC retaining her traditional, centuries-long position as the director. But she had become rather aloof over the years, and preferred to work discretely, pulling the strings from the shadows, giving VV a chance to move the members with his words and project CC as uncaring of the organisation, despite their loyalty to her.

"VV must have set his plan in motion when you were away linking the thought elevator in Chinese Federation ten years ago." Charles assessed. He was infuriated by his brother. He had lied and plotted behind his back again, hadn't he? Despite the promise they had made years ago. Did it mean nothing to him? Had he forgotten their childhood experiences that showed just what happened when people lied?

 _"And what after that, CC? I had tried to contact you several times."_ Marianne enquired. _"You hardly ever responded. And whenever you did, you never reveal your location any further than being in Japan._

"I was held by the Code R and experimented upon." The addressee growled darkly.

"Code R?" Charles repeated, utterly confused. He had never heard of such an entity, let alone know what it's allegiance or purpose was. Marianne seemed to have no knowledge regarding this matter either.

"Huh, the emperor of Britannia doesn't know?" The witch mocked in a sarcastic yet condescending tone. "Perhaps you are getting old, after all."

Neither the emperor nor his wife paid any mind to her latest insult. What mattered was that something big was going on without Charles ever catching a whiff of it.

"CC, what is this Code R? Tell me everything you know." Charles asked slowly, emphasizing the last part.

CC tilted her head slightly in consideration. Nodding to herself once she began, "Code R is an organisation founded and led by Schneizel to unravel the mystery of the 'gate-like ancient ruins engraved by a bird-in-flight symbol' that emperor seems to be obsessed with."

Marianne gasped at this. The objects of interest were undoubtedly the Thought Elevators.

"They have been researching on them for a long time, conducting several tests and have concluded that they Elevators have some special properties. Schneizel has reached far enough to suspect that perhaps some areas had been conquered for those ruins alone." CC divulged further.

"When was this organisation founded?" Charles enquired, his temper gradually rising. He really should not have given so much control to Schneizel. This arrangement was rather efficient rather than split power between a few of his children. They would work against each other and unnecessarily complicate things. Though he knew the drawbacks, Charles choose to disregard them. And look what had happened. Schneizel had gone a bit too far. But then again, he was pretty sure Schneizel couldn't have pulled this off without assistance. "How big is it?"

CC shrugged. "Probably five or six years ago. I don't really know. As for how big it is, I know they employ nearly a hundred researchers and technicians, mainly from Rosenberg Institute."

 _"And so, they found and captured you."_ Marianne assessed. _"Under the leadership of Schneizel, I presume."_ Marianne muttered.

"Not quite." CC said shaking her head. "Clovis was a part of Code R and was supposed to find out more about the elevator at Kamine island. The team working under him was called Code R -11, led by Bartley. While at it, they happened to run into me and for reasons obvious were extremely interested in me. So, Clovis had me captured and experimented on to solve the riddle of my immortality and try to replicate it. He intended to leverage that to strengthen his claim to the throne. And so, as you can imagine, this information was kept from Schneizel."

 _"Schneizel is quite smart and discrete, but succeeding at hiding an organisation that big from Charles?_ " Marianne wondered aloud, voicing Charles' own thoughts.

CC raised an eyebrow as if doubting Charles' ability to be well informed.

 _"Charles knows all about Schneizel's pretty plans and pet projects - including his pesky flying fortress and the ambitious coup d'état."_ Marianne defended, much to the satisfaction of her husband. _"Schneizel couldn't have done it by himself; there's a third party involved, which has to be extremely powerful."_

"Unbelievable!" CC sighed in exasperation. "Can you not think of one organisation that fits the criteria?"

The only name coming to Charles' mind was the Geass Directorate, though he didn't want to believe it was behind all of this. But of course, there was no other organisation capable enough. "It would require the consent of VV."

"I never denied it." CC confirmed.

Charles was baffled by VV's actions. First, he tried to assassinate Marianne. Disregarding the fact that she was his wife, she was a supporter of the Ragnarok connection. Next, he drove out CC, bearer of the second code that they needed, also a supporter of the plan. He was now backing Code R, that was researching the Elevators and knew something was going on behind the scenes, essentially endangering their project. What was his brother's intention? Why was he trying to ruin everything- the promise they made, their resolution and the way to save the world. Did he not support it anymore? Or perhaps, as CC mentioned, had become a victim of the lust for power. In any case, his brother wasn't the person he had known anymore. He had turned out to be just like them all. He was disappointed in VV and furious with him.

" _VV has stalled our progress for seven years._ " Marianne ground out, seething. " _This is getting out of hand, Charles._ " He had proved yet again that he couldn't be trusted.

Steeling up his resolve as an emperor should, Charles announced his decision. "Schneizel has gone too far. He must be taken care of, one way or the other. VV's actions don't seem to be aligned with ours. So, he needs to be neutralised. At the same time, we continue the process of linking."

 _"VV shouldn't suspect anything."_ Marianne advised.

"True." confirmed CC. "For the time being act like nothing has happened. I'll try to corner him; I have blackmail material. We'll work out the intricacies of the plan Anya returns."

Her company agreed with her, concluding their little conference, and CC severed the link. Charles had the witch escorted back to the Aries Villa discretely. It wasn't difficult at all, considering it was only 9 pm. It was nothing out of ordinary for people to be outdoors.

Plopping herself onto a couch, once she was back at the Villa, CC hummed in satisfaction. She was also a little surprised and amused.

"Well, that went smoother than I had expected. Who knew?"

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A/N: So, yay! I finally finished it. I had some trouble writing the last conversation. Did it turn out well?

Most importantly, what do you think is brewing? Who is up to what?

The plot thickens...(hopefully :) )


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Its been quite a while since I last posted. I just had really hectic few months and couldn't spare any time for this. Anyway, enjoy the read.

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March 18, 2017.

St. Darwin Street, Pendragon.

Night of the Homecoming party.

The lavish ballroom was flooded with light, which pierced through the moonless night. The main entrance to the room was a white marble staircase which opened outside through an enormous ornate door. It had several stained-glass windows and balconies, the latter leading to the south-east quadrant of the iconic Exelica garden. Several round tables were arranged peripherally in the room, for the guests to sit at. The centre of the room, however, was devoid of any furniture apart of the canopy of the huge chandelier overhead, which itself was a piece of art. Opposite to the staircase, at the other end of the room was a stage for the emperor to address from, while the orchestra occupied a part of the west side. Bringing the room to life were the extravagantly dressed attendees, intermingling and weaving through the ballroom gracefully. To the common people, the scene would look like it was straight from paradise, but little do they know- inhabiting the soft velvet sheath, is the sharp steel dagger unseen by the world.

Standing near a window towards the east, Lelouch willed himself to not zone out the conversation he was having with Grand Duke Versile Anconi. He was getting tired of this homecoming party already and there were still 3 hours to go at the very least. The party went exactly as he had imagined - the emperor addressed Britannians which was broadcasted live, the only part of the event to be broadcasted, followed by Nunnally and him meeting countless nobles and other royals, although Odysseus, his thoughtful eldest brother, had asked many of the royals Lelouch was on good terms with, to wait until later to approach him and make things a little less tiring for Lelouch. As expected, most nobles were more interested in him than in his sister; unlike him she was the 87th heir.

Lelouch maintained a gracious demeanor, not once letting his mask slip. Nunnally was beside him, sipping on a fruit punch. Like him, she too was rather tired of this but maintained a pleasant smile as per norm. CC, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Sometimes, he wondered if she had the power to dissolve into thin air.

"It's quite miraculous, though." The middle aged noble continued. "Don't you think so Delphine?". He turned to his wife - a snobbish, auburn- haired lady, who had been regarding the siblings with great distaste.

"Indeed." She responded with a sickly sweet smile, making Lelouch nauseous.

"I hope you didn't find living among commoners too inconvenient. One usually is most comfortable in the company of like people." She commented in a concerned tone.

The subtle insult to his lineage was not missed by Lelouch, though. "Not at all. They were most caring of us." Lelouch replied politely, refraining from making a sarcastic comment.

Delphine let out a derisive chuckle. "Well you always had a reputation for being exceptionally accomodating. Most of us wouldn't bear it for a day. They certainly have no etiquette and are impolite at best."

The woman tapped at her chin in thought. "If I remember correctly, there was this one time Versile had to associate with a few of them. Quite a horrific experience, really. Isn't that right, dear?" She cocked her head slightly towards her husband.

"Ah, yes! How can one forget a jungle safari like that?" He agreed. "The experience I had France was even worse. Such nonsensical organisation of society they have, erasing the noble traditional system of heirarchy. Heretics, all of them. Such an impure civilization is bound to collapse."

Just then, a blonde man appeared, holding a glass of champaign, whom Lelouch recognised as Grand Duke Demian Sherrington from their conversation a while earlier. "You look rather distressed, Versile. Is something the matter?"

The spouse of the addressee chose to answer. "He was talking about the French society."

Demian's face instantly soured on hearing the topic of discussion. "Equality." He scoffed. "They parade about calling it justice- the very concept that violates nature. Hasn't saint Darwin proven it already that the supreme law of nature is 'survival of the fittest'? That it is what drives civilization towards greatness by eliminating all that is deleterious to its progress? Despite this those maggots continue to defy the will of nature at every turn. I only hope Britannia conquers EU and sets it right."

This little speech showed just how deeply flawed Britannia was. Throughout this conversation Lelouch's temper had been steadily rising until at one point it all deflated, and he only felt like laughing. This was absolutely hopeless. Perhaps they saw the faint smile playing at his lips and interpret it as a sign that he supported this, because the next moment Versile said, "It's good to see that you have taken after the emperor, prince."

"Indeed. Years of separation from him hasn't polluted your mind." Demian agreed. "And there are some who have been educated well for years, yet, remain rebellious and misguided."

"But Britannia conquering EU would lead to so much suffering of people. The world should be a peaceful place." Nunnally protested.

The two noble men exchanged a glance while Delphine had her lips pressed into a line.

"The world doesn't work like that, princess. You are too young to understand the difference between right and wrong." Demian commented.

Before the tension grew any further, Lelouch steered the topic in a different direction. "In any case, such a takeover is probably not a priority of his majesty." He paused before adding, "It certainly isn't possible now, not after the conquest of middle East. We cannot take on both EU and China."

Although Lelouch very well knew of way other than war to achieve this, it was not very likely for Britannia to take that path, unless Schneizel managed to convince the Emperor.

Surprisingly, Versile let out a chuckle. "What makes you think it is not a priority, Prince? Britannia will conquer EU regardless of China's stand. The day isn't far when Britannia will get it's true homeland- Britain- back."

Lelouch was a little taken aback that he would reveal this. He had also noticed a transient look of exasperation on Demian's face that was quickly covered up. So, this matter was probably in talks and not confirmed yet. Lelouch was surprised Versile had broken the news to him, him of all people. Perhaps it was only because Versile viewed him as completely harmless. In all honesty, he had realised he had absolutely no idea in what light majority of these people viewed him. During his exile in Japan he spent a lot of time in analysis and had drawn out several conclusions about the Imperial court. Based on this he had predicted the way they would view and treat him and Nunnally. But it turned out his understanding of them wasn't accurate enough for he couldn't correctly predict their moves. Therefore, he had wisely decided to simply observe and learn for a while.

"In any case, this talk is for another day." Demian said. " Versile, let's not monopolize the Prince and Princess. Many others would want to meet them."

"Of course" the addressee chuckled, following the blonde man towards the center of the ballroom.

Once he was sure to be out of the earshot of Lelouch, Demian turned towards Versile. Delphine, who had run into her younger sister, had abandoned the two men along the way.

Versile had an idea what the man wanted to speak about; he had a good understanding of his childhood friend. "Is this about spilling the beans? "

Undoubtedly, it was. They both knew how careful and cautious Demian was, usually refraining from taking any risks- preferring to guage the depth of the river before diving in. Though the adventurous Versile often scoffed at this characteristic of his, Demian himself prided himself in being so prudent.

"We know next to nothing about how capable he is, or what his ambition is. The piece of information you let slip may not be sellable but that doesn't mean something else won't be."

"You're far too cautious. Despite his intelligence, I don't believe the boy will pose a significant threat - he's been out of the game for too long and before he could learn everything. He never gained an edge to lose it." Versile reasoned.

It was true, every word of what Versile said. But Demian remembered the chess match he'd had with the prince when the latter was only eight. Of course, Versile had also seen the prince play and win, but Demian deemed the the experience of sitting in the opposite chair and playing with white pieces, being assured of victory in the first quarter of the game and then having the feeling snatched away from you as the violet-eyed boy's strategy slowly unfolded like the plot of a thrilling mystery novel, was something watching the game as an audience could never offer. Although, logically, the prince shouldn't pose a threat, a part of Demian's mind couldn't help but think otherwise. But perhaps he was being unreasonably apprehensive and everyone else was right. He decided to drop the matter for the moment; there were plenty of things on his mind. Being the head of foreign affairs meant that he had enormous responsibility at the planning stages of every invasion. And with a superpower like EU being their target, his workload had become twice as much, even with some other friends of his from other sectors extending his department a lot of help. Indeed, his brain could use not thinking about the prince.

Another hour later, once almost everyone had personally greeted with the two, the attendees started mingling among themselves. Suddenly, someone hugged Lelouch tightly from behind nearly tipping him off balance. He turned around, surprised someone would behave so informally at an event as formal as this one. He was greeted by a familiar flurry of pink.

"Euphy!" He exclaimed delightedly on seeing one of his favourite people on earth.

"Sister Euphy is here?" Nunnally chimed in, promptly receiving a hug herself.

"What are you doing here?" Lelouch asked her once she let go of Nunnally.

"Well, brother Schneizel manged to steal a few hours from his work to meet you both personally and asked me if I wanted to come along. Nelly couldn't come, though; she's had a pileup of work." Euphy explained. "Schneizel must be arriving at any moment, now."

As if on cue, the blonde Second Prince, was seen making his way towards the three royals, his signature gentle smile, that Lelouch knew was the epitome of fabrication, adorning his face and was followed by a man with rose-gold hair, whom Lelouch had never met before.

"Lelouch!" the blonde man shook hands with his younger brother. Placing his hands on the raven-haired prince's shoulders he said, "I think you won't need a pillow anymore to reach the table in my study the next time we play chess there." causing the everyone to chuckle. Schneizel turned towards Nunnally, kneeling to her height and clasped her small hands in his bigger ones tenderly.

"How are you, Nunnally?" he asked in a tone that was more fatherly than brotherly.

"I am doing great." the brunette princess answered in her adorable voice. The casual conversation among the four royals had been going on for a few minutes, when Schneizel turned to the man who had accompanied him and introduced him as Earl Kanon Maldini, his right-hand man. Not long after, they were joined by Odysseus and Adriane si Britannia, the twenty- six- year- old Sixth Princess. Adriane was one of the royals Lelouch shared a warm relationship with. Though he hadn't seen her very frequently when he was a child, he knew she was rather fond of him. As a cherry on top, she was the head of the technical department of the OSI and was not a part of what Nunnally had jokingly dubbed the 'Schneizel fan club'. However, he still didn't know exactly how deep her loyalty to the emperor ran.

The conversation eventually developed vibes of nostalgia with the three elder siblings recounting stories from their time as students, Lelouch and Euphy chuckling and asking a question or two here and there. Nunnally, on the other hand, was having a conversation with Kanon, who was kneeling beside her, his hand held by her. It was then that Schneizel told what led to Kanon becoming his friend: during their time at the Northern Bulliac school dorm, Schneizel was the council head and in-charge of maintaining discipline. He once whipped Kanon, making an example of him following which he never had any trouble keeping everyone in line. This seemed to surprise everyone, but Kanon waved it off saying that the Second Prince did what was to be done. Lelouch couldn't fathom the reason Kanon would willingly serve someone who had made an example of him much less have such undying loyalty to him; he was pretty sure it wasn't acting. Besides, Schneizel would have realised by now if it wasn't genuine. Quite curiously, he saw Nunnally frown slightly when Kanon finished speaking. He made a mental note to ask her about it.

By now, the group had started attracting attention and joined by more royals, breaking into little group-lets. Lelouch had stepped back, preferring to be by himself for a few minutes of reprieve. Grabbing a glass of cold water, he closed his eyes briefly when he was sure no one was looking at him. He was disturbed by a hand being placed on his shoulder. Turning around, he was greeted by the sight of a familiar mauve-haired woman with a kind smile on her face – Josephina li Britannia.

"Lady Josephina!" the prince's voice was gentle and soft as ever, though much deeper now. The day she had learnt of their survival, Josephina had made up her mind regarding this. After all, she owed the vi Britannias; years ago, when she was down with a long and severe illness, her daughters had stayed at the Aries Villa during which, the vi Britannias had taken such a great care of them, that they were a little disappointed to come back to the Capricorn Villa.

"A walk, if you would?' she offered warmly. The prince chuckled allowing her to lead them towards the garden. They stood in silence for a while before Josephina initiated the convention.

" A lot has changed, Lelouch." Receiving no reply, she continued, "And a lot more hasn't."

" Since?" Lelouch smirked slightly.

Josephina suppressed a smile. He was sharp as ever. They had been walking for another few minutes, when the conversation was resumed.

" I've been observing for years." Josephina informed. "I stay silent, Lelouch. They don't take me a threat which makes it a lot easier.". She leaned towards him, her voice dropping to an ominous whisper. " I know a lot of their secrets - many more than they would let me live for knowing."

"Then I must congratulate you for managing to keep your good health. I assume it's not a matter of their shortcomings, rather its your skills."

" You would be right in assuming that." She confirmed. " The current 'peaceful' situation is balanced on a knife edge." She began, turning around to look at the brightly lit ballroom in a manner that was almost melancholic. "The council supports Schneizel but many in the family want power for themselves and are bitter of the favour he enjoys."

" That is to be expected." Lelouch sighed.

" At the moment, there are three factions: pro- Schneizel, anti-Schneizel and the neutrals. None has a hand strong enough. That's the very reason there isn't a named heir to the throne. But your coming back tips that balance, no matter what side you are on."

" That makes it a lot more unstable than I had anticipated." Lelouch commented in an amused tone.

"That also makes it easier than you had anticipated." Josephina added knowingly.

"Whatever are you referring to?" Lelouch gasped feigning innocence, eliciting a chuckle from the mauvette.

"People are planning a lot of things- it's best to wear you bullet proof vests." She observed."The scenario is all too reminiscent of the Emblem of Blood which isn't surprising at all considering the emperor's policies. Your survival is determined by how many steps ahead of the enemy you are.'

" And I suppose you are not planning on selling information for free, are you?" Lelouch said in a quiet, serious tone.

"We all have something to protect. One cannot be blamed for leveraging resources."

"You mean someone." Lelouch quipped. He stood quietly for a while, gazing into the moonless night. "Why approach me? Isn't Cornelia capable enough? Besides, you should know what situation I am in."

"All these years, Cornelia has tried very hard to keep Euphy Safe. Judging by what's to come, she won't be able to do so alone." Josephina whispered, her eyes downcast. She felt guilty asking her half-son who was barely a year older than her Euphy, had lost his mother and had his own younger sister to protect, to take care of Euphy as well. But she was dying, damnit, of that same illness that the doctors thought had been cured only to discover it had turned asymptomatic and continued to slowly kill her. She only wanted to make sure her daughters were safe before she went. Euphy was too guileless to be able to fend for herself in this forest. Cornelia, though a lot more capable of staying alive, had none of the craftiness that a few royals possessed. One couldn't expect someone as young as Lelouch, even with his frighteningly capable mind, to possibly hold his ground against the likes of Schneizel. But there was one major difference between the other royal children and Lelouch- he had seen the world; he had survived a war meaning he would probably have matured a lot more than most other royals. Witnessing and living through the such situations changes people. Lelouch had diverged a lot from the happy-go-lucky childhood version of him she had known.

She remembered a teenaged Cornelia; she would probably sound clueless compared to him. Schneizel and Odysseus hadn't been much better.

"Intelligence and support- mine as well as Cornelia's - for Euphy's safety." Josephina proposed in a serious tone.

Lelouch studied her, his expression betraying nothing, before talking in a smooth, emotionless voice, " Your offer is very vague. For once, how much support and intelligence are we talking about? What do you expect me to do for Euphy? From how much do you expect me to shield her from?"

Josephina's heart dropped at his apathetic voice. There was hardly anyone in palace whom she could trust; most would simply use Euphy as a tool to control Cornelia, her being the Field Marshall of the military, and once Cornelia had been neutralised, simply dispose of Euphy. Being an information broker would be even worse in here, as she would then be assassinated as a precaution by the party she was supporting, to eliminate the threat of a double agent. Josephina had a good amount of influence and supporters, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe they would stand by her and her daughters if the seas turned rough- such was the situation, a situation much too similar to the Emblem of Blood. The only thing left to do was to see when someone sparks the wildfire.

She had believed she would be able to strike a deal with Lelouch. But it seems she was mistaken.

"I would only expect you to treat her as you would a sister. In return as much information as I can get you?" She said a little tentatively.

The prince was silent for a while, even as the atmosphere grew steadily uncomfortable. Josephina had almost concluded that he would refuse, when the boy tried suppressing a chuckle and failed miserably. He calmed down a minute later saying, "Lady Josephina, I would have looked after Euphy regardless of whether you had given me this in return. I love Euphy and Nelly as much as I love Nunnally."

"Shall we seal the alliance then, Lelouch?" Josephina asked holding out her hand. Lelouch took it and shook hands with her.

"Lelouch, mother stop disappearing like that. Nunnally is looking for you, Lelouch." Euphemia's voice informed them.

Josephina walked towards her daughter saying," just talking about matters in general. Seems we lost the track of time."

"Indeed" Lelouch agreed, following the two inside to where Nunnally was waiting.

"Here you go, Nunnally." Euphy teased. "Your precious brother safely returned to you."

"Euphemia!" Nunnally reproached looking a little embarrassed, making the addressee and her mother chuckle. "Mother, doesn't she sound like you when you scold me?" Came another joke at the brunette's expense.

With the help of the Pink Princess' mother, Nunnally managed to shoo her away.

Lelouch decided to take this opportunity to ask Nunnally about her reaction to Kanon's reply earlier.

"About that, yes." Nunnally nodded. "I don't know, big brother; when he was defending brother Schneizel, his grip tightened up slightest bit and his pulse rate increased. I believe he didn't really mean it."

"Does that perhaps suggest that Kanon isn't as devoted to Schneizel as it seems?" Lelouch queried. Nunnally nodded.

"I wonder..." He trailed off.

Minutes later Euphemia approached them, wishing them a good night. She was retiring to the Capricorn Villa where she would spend the night and leave for Area 11 in the morning.

"Big brother, can we go home too?" Nunnally asked after a while.

Lelouch himself was running low on energy as well as patience and calling it a night sounded like an inviting prospect. He had Nunnally wait with Adriane and Aurelia, her 19-year-old sister and the eighth princess, and went to look for CC. After fifteen minutes of searching he spotted her now dull Champaign mane of hair near the balcony. He walked towards the solitary witch who was sitting at a table sipping on a drink, and helped her up, leading them both back to where Nunnally was waiting.

Having made their way to the north end of the ballroom where the emperor stood surrounded by some of the most powerful people in Britannia- prince Schneizel, prince Odysseus, princess Gwynevere, some other royals, members of the council and some other highly influential Grand Dukes and Duchesses- all trying to gain more of the emperor's favour- the trio thanked him, had a small chat with him for the sake of formality and took their leave. Just as Cornelia had predicted, not one member of the emperor's little entourage paid any mind to the unknown woman with the siblings, much less ask who she was. They would never concern themselves with the affairs of those they did see a potential threat or a resource. But that setting worked for Lelouch- the more freedom he had, the more elaborate plans he could orchestrate and pull the ground from right under their feet without them ever noticing.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. This chapter took quite a while to write. I spent a lot of time brainstorming how much to reveal and what developments should take place. I mean, considering everyone who's important is here so this chapter naturally had a lot of potential. I didn't want this to ball to be wasted opportunity nor have so much happen that it would seem unnatural and a mere manipulation for the sake of plot. I really hope I have done it justice. Let me know if it was well written.

There are some points you guys could chew on:

1\. what's with Kanon and Schneizel? Did Kanon forgive him? If not, why is he so loyal to Schneizel? What in world lead to that example-making anyway? They really have a weird relationship.

2\. Where in the world did CC disappear to during the party? I believe many would guess what she was up to.


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